Selective catalytic oxidation of aniline to azoxybenzene over titanium silicate molecular sieves

The oxidation of aniline using aqueous H₂O₂ and titanium silicates, TS-1 and TS-2 as catalysts was carried out in a batch reactor in the temperature range 333–353 K. TS-1 catalyzes aniline selectively to azoxybenzene and is superior to TS-2. The influence of different solvents, concentration of H₂O₂ and the catalyst in the reaction mixture on the conversion and product distribution has been studied. Acetonitrile is a suitable solvent in this reaction, while acetone is not. For the TS-1 catalyzed oxidation reaction,t-butyl hydroperoxide is not a suitable oxidant. At optimum conditions, a H₂O₂ efficiency of about 100% for aniline conversion is obtained with a selectivity of 97% to azoxybenzene in the product.