Liquid-phase selective oxidation of ethylbenzene over activated Al2O3-supported V2O5 catalyst

IEC 16

Padmanabha Reddy Ettireddy and Rajender S. Varma. National Risk Management Research Laboratory, Clean Processes Branch, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, MS 443, 26 W. Martin Luther King Drive, Cincinnati, OH 45268
Acetophenone, a very useful industrial chemical for fragrance and flavoring agent and a solvent for plastics and resins, is usually produced as a byproduct of phenol production from cumene. Alumina supported vanadium oxide catalyst is now explored for the selective oxidation of ethylbenzene to acetophenone under eco-friendly conditions. The highest conversion of ethylbenzene and selectivity for acetophenone is observed on the 30 wt.%V2O5/Al2O3 in view of the largest amount of vanadium oxide that could be dispersed on the activated alumina support. The effect of various reaction parameters namely temperature, the concentration of reactant and catalyst and the amount of hydrogen peroxide will be described for the highest conversion and selectivity of acetophenone formation in this reaction.