Vanadium-based systems

In the first stage of the investigation the catalyst can be considered in the form of powder in order to derive intrinsic transient kinetics of all the relevant reactive processes. To this purpose, dynamic reactive experiments can be performed in a simple tubular fixed-bed microreactor over small quantities (50-200 mg) of finely powdered catalyst in principle, this guarantees negligible transport limitations and more controlled conditions (e.g. isothermal catalyst bed), hence enabling a direct estimation of intrinsic rate parameters by kinetic fit. Internal diffusion limitations are particularly relevant to the case of bulk (extruded) monolith catalysts, such as vanadium-based systems for NH3/urea SCR however, they... 

In addition to titanium-based Ziegler-Natta catalysts, vanadium-based systems have also been developed for PE and ethylene-based co-polymers, particularly ethylene-propylene-diene rubbers (EPDM). Homogeneous (soluble) vanadium catalysts produce relatively narrow molecular mass distribution PE, whereas supported V catalysts give broad molecular mass distribution.422 Polymerization activity is strongly enhanced by the use of a halogenated hydrocarbon as promoter in combination with a vanadium catalyst and aluminum alkyl co-catalyst.422,423... 

Since the 1920 s vanadium based catalysts have been used for this reaction chemistry, and after 70 years and over 1000 j)apers and patents, it seems reasonable to conclude that vanadium-based systems are uniquely well suited for this reaction chemistry. Monsanto, currently through Monsanto Enviro-Chern Systems, Inc., has been providing sulfuric acid catalysts and sulfuric acid plant engineering services for this industry for over 40 years. 

Since the 1960s the syndiospecific chain-end controlled polymerization of propene in the presence of homogeneous vanadium-based catalytic systems has been known. For these systems, it has been well established by the work of Zambelli and co-workers that the polymerization is poorly regioselective and the stereoselective (and possibly syndiospecific) step is propene insertion into the metal secondary carbon bond with formation of a new secondary metal-carbon bond.133134... 

Pinacol Coupling with Other Low-valent Early Transition Metals 11.02.4.3.1 Vanadium-based reagent systems... 

In contrast to the aforementioned binary oxides, V2Os has a stronger oxidation power and is able to attack hydrogen attached to the aromatic nucleus. Sometimes attention is drawn to the importance of a layer structure in the catalyst or to geometric factors (e.g. Sachtler [270]). Unexpectedly, however, very effective vanadium-based catalysts exist which operate in the molten state, indicating that a fixed structure is not important. The catalytic activity of molten oxide phases seems to occur exclusively in the oxidation of aromatic hydrocarbons over V2Os-based catalysts, such systems have not been reported for the selective oxidation of olefins. 

The multifunctionality is achieved through either the combination of two different compounds (phase-cooperation) or the presence of different elements inside a single crystalline structure. In antimonates-based systems, cooperation between the metal antimonate (having a rutile crystalline structure), employed for propane oxidative dehydrogenation and propene activation, and the dispersed antimony oxide, active in allylic ammoxidation, is made more efficient through the dispersion of the latter compound over the former. In metal molybdates, one single crystalline structure contains both the element active in the oxidative dehydrogenation of the hydrocarbon (vanadium) and those active in the transformation of the olefin and in the allylic insertion of the N H2 species (tellurium and molybdenum). 

The Ziegler-Natta catalysts have acquired practical importance particularly as heterogeneous systems, mostly owing to the commercial production of linear high- and low-density polyethylenes and isotactic polypropylene. Elastomers based on ethylene-propylene copolymers (with the use of vanadium-based catalysts) as well as 1,4-cz s-and 1,4-tran.y-poly(l, 3-butadiene) and polyisoprene are also produced. These catalysts are extremely versatile and can be used in many other polymerisations of various hydrocarbon monomers, leading very often to polymers of different stereoregularity. In 1963, both Ziegler and Natta were awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry. 

Nevertheless, many vanadium-based catalysts and polymerisation systems comprising them have received much academic attention in the hope that they might provide models for heterogeneous catalysts and polymerisation systems, since the problems connected with surface properties and particle size were believed to have been overcome. It must be noted, however, that homogeneous vanadium-based catalysts appeared to be more complex than was thought. There is no decisive evidence on the structure of catalytic sites formed by reaction between the procatalyst and activator. 

Studies have also focused on vanadium-based asymmetric catalysts in addition to these photocatalytic systems. A catalytic achiral version of an oxidative coupling reaction was published in 1999 by Uang and co-workers (see Section 14.4.2) [70]. They developed an air-stable complex (VO(acac)2) that can be used in catalytic quantities in the presence of dioxygen as a re-oxidant. The promising results obtained led to an investigation of chiral versions of this reagent, and the initial reports document that such a reaction was possible with complexes... 

The few vanadium-based studies present in the literature are summarized briefly here and, as with the manganese systems, they focus on the identification of key Intermediates in vanadium-catalyzed oxidations. These cases readily Illustrate the importance of considering both the positive and negative ion modes of ESl-MS when probing reaction mixtures. 

In the vanadium-nitrogen system, the phases /3-V2N and 5-VNi x have cph and fee struetures, respeetively. Carlsson et have reviewed the V-N system and reinvestigated the vanadium-rieh portion. Compiled data and results of a phase diagram study based on diffusion eouples have been used to eonstruet the phase diagram shown in Figure 7. 

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