Mixed metal oxides bismuthates

Although acrylonitrile manufacture from propylene and ammonia was first patented in 1949 (30), it was not until 1959, when Sohio developed a catalyst capable of producing acrylonitrile with high selectivity, that commercial manufacture from propylene became economically viable (1). Production improvements over the past 30 years have stemmed largely from development of several generations of increasingly more efficient catalysts. These catalysts are multicomponent mixed metal oxides mostly based on bismuth—molybdenum oxide. Other types of catalysts that have been used commercially are based on iron—antimony oxide, uranium—antimony oxide, and tellurium-molybdenum oxide. 

In the vapor phase, acetone vapor is passed over a catalyst bed of magnesium aluminate (206), 2iac oxide—bismuth oxide (207), calcium oxide (208), lithium or 2iac-doped mixed magnesia—alumina (209), calcium on alumina (210), or basic mixed-metal oxide catalysts (211—214). Temperatures ranging... 

The first-stage catalysts for the oxidation to methacrolein are based on complex mixed metal oxides of molybdenum, bismuth, and iron, often with the addition of cobalt, nickel, antimony, tungsten, and an alkaU metal. Process optimization continues to be in the form of incremental improvements in catalyst yield and lifetime. Typically, a dilute stream, 5—10% of isobutylene tert-huty alcohol) in steam (10%) and air, is passed over the catalyst at 300—420°C. Conversion is often nearly quantitative, with selectivities to methacrolein ranging from 85% to better than 95% (114—118). Often there is accompanying selectivity to methacrylic acid of an additional 2—5%. A patent by Mitsui Toatsu Chemicals reports selectivity to methacrolein of better than 97% at conversions of 98.7% for a yield of methacrolein of nearly 96% (119). 

MAA and MMA may also be prepared via the ammoxidation of isobutylene to give meth acrylonitrile as the key intermediate. A mixture of isobutjiene, ammonia, and air are passed over a complex mixed metal oxide catalyst at elevated temperatures to give a 70—80% yield of methacrylonitrile. Suitable catalysts often include mixtures of molybdenum, bismuth, iron, and antimony, in addition to a noble metal (131—133). The meth acrylonitrile formed may then be hydrolyzed to methacrjiamide by treatment with one equivalent of sulfuric acid. The methacrjiamide can be esterified to MMA or hydrolyzed to MAA under conditions similar to those employed in the ACH process. The relatively modest yields obtainable in the ammoxidation reaction and the generation of a considerable acid waste stream combine to make this process economically less desirable than the ACH or C-4 oxidation to methacrolein processes. 

Mixed Metal Oxides and Propylene Ammoxidation. The best catalysts for partial oxidation are metal oxides, usually mixed metal oxides. For example, phosphoms—vanadium oxides are used commercially for oxidation of / -butane to give maleic anhydride, and oxides of bismuth and molybdenum with other components are used commercially for oxidation of propylene to give acrolein or acrylonitrile. 

Another industrially important reaction of propylene, related to the one above, is its partial oxidation in the presence of ammonia, resulting in acrylonitrile, H2C=CHCN. This ammoxidation reaction is also catalyzed by mixed metal oxide catalysts, such as bismuth-molybdate or iron antimonate, to which a large number of promoters is added (Fig. 9.19). Being strongly exothermic, ammoxidation is carried out in a fluidized-bed reactor to enable sufficient heat transfer and temperature control (400-500 °C). 

Light hydrocarbons consisting of oxygen or other heteroatoms are important intermediates in the chemical industry. Selective hydrocarbon oxidation of alkenes progressed dramatically with the discovery of bismuth molybdate mixed-metal-oxide catalysts because of their high selectivity and activity (>90%). These now form the basis of very important commercial multicomponent catalysts (which may contain mixed metal oxides) for the oxidation of propylene to acrolein and ammoxidation with ammonia to acrylonitrile and to propylene oxide. 

Oxo-metal complexes also intervene as active species in the heterogeneous gas-phase oxidation of hydrocarbons over metal oxide or mixed metal oxide catalysts at high temperatures. Characteristic examples are the bismuth molybdate-catalyzed oxidation of propene to acrolein and the V205-catalyzed oxidation of benzene to maleic anhydride (equations 17 and 18).SJ... 

Bismuth oxide forms a number of complex mixed-metal phases with the divalent metal oxides of calcium, strontium, barium, lead, and cadmium, and these show a wide variety in composition. With transition metal oxides, mixed-metal oxide phases have been observed which are based upon a Perovskite-type lattice (10) containing layers of Bi202. It is notable that the high Tc superconducting materials which include bismuth also have this Perovskite-type of lattice with layers of copper oxide interleaved with bismuth oxide layers. 

Antimonate-Based Catalysts. In addition to the bismuth-molybdenum oxide catalyst system, several other mixed metal oxides have been identified as effective catalysts for propylene ammoxidation to acrylonitrile. Several were used commercially at various times. In particular, the iron-antimony oxide catalyst is currently used commercially by Nitto Chemical (now Dia-Nitrix Co. Ltd., Japan) and its licensees around the world, although the catalyst was originally discovered and patented by SOHIO (20,21) and by UCB (22). Nitto Chemical improved the basic iron-antimony oxide catalyst with the addition of several elements that promote activity and selectivity to acrylonitrile. Key among these additives are tellurium, copper, molybdenum, vanadium, and tvmgsten (23-25). 

Bulk mixed metal oxide catalytic materials consist of multiple metal oxide components. Such mixed metal oxide catalysts find wide application as selective oxidation catalysts for the synthesis of chemical intermediates. For example, bulk iron-molybdate catalysts are employed in the selective oxidation of CH3OH to H2CO [122], bulk bismuth-molybdates are the catalysts of choice for selective oxidation of CH2=CHCH3 to acrolein (CH2=CHCHO) and its further oxidation to acrylic acid (CH2=CHCOOH) [123], selective ammoxidation of CH2=CHCH3 to acrylonitrile (CH2=CHCN) [123], and selective oxidation of linear CH3CH2CH2CH3 to cyclic maleic anhydride consisting of a flve-membered ring (four carbons and one O atom) [124]. The characterization of the surface... 

Oxides of arsenic, antimony and bismuth are very important as components of mixed metal oxides for oxidation of propene and butenes. However, the acid or base properties of the individual oxides have rarely been studied. 

Bulk Mixed Oxide Catalysts. - Raman spectroscopy of bulk transition metal oxides encompasses a vast and well-established area of knowledge. Hie fundamental vibrational modes for many of the transitional metal oxide complexes have already been assigned and tabulated for systems in the solid and solution phases. Perhaps the most well-known and established of the metal oxides are the tungsten and molybdenum oxides because of their excellent Raman signals and applications in hydrotreating and oxidation catalysis. Examples of these two very important metal-oxide systems are presented below for bulk bismuth molybdate catalysts, in this section, and surface (two-dimensional) tungstate species in a later section. 

Bismuth oxide and mixed bismuth/metal oxide systems as oxidant or oxidation catalyst... 

Miscellaneous oxidations using other mixed bismuth/metal oxide-based catalysts... 

Mixed bismuth-metal oxychlorides with or without added alkali or alkaline earth cations show low to moderate catalytic performance in the dehydroha-logenation of f rf-butyl halides [93BCJ347]. A Bi-Pd (Bi/Pd = 0.4-0.6) binary system supported on metal oxides is found to be an efficient catalyst for the dehydrohalogenation of 1,1,2-trichlorotrifluoroethane (FC-113) to trifluoroethene, a key intermediate to FC-134a, with 80-90% selectivity at 80-100% conversion [91CL841] (Scheme 5.23). 

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