Vanadium complexes oxidation catalysts

Complex vanadium-phosphorus-oxide catalysts are the most successful industrial catalysts for the selective oxidation of /i-butane to maleic anhydride (MA) with uses in tetrahydrofurans (THE) and polyurethane intermediates. A schematic diagram of the reaction is shown in figure 3.21(a). These catalysts have been studied extensively (e.g. Centi et al 1993, Bordes 1987). In the selective catalysation of a-butane to MA, the best active phase in the V-P-0 system is identified as the vanadyl pyrophosphate, (VO)2P207 (hereafter... 

Early catalysts for acrolein synthesis were based on cuprous oxide and other heavy metal oxides deposited on inert siHca or alumina supports (39). Later, catalysts more selective for the oxidation of propylene to acrolein and acrolein to acryHc acid were prepared from bismuth, cobalt, kon, nickel, tin salts, and molybdic, molybdic phosphoric, and molybdic siHcic acids. Preferred second-stage catalysts generally are complex oxides containing molybdenum and vanadium. Other components, such as tungsten, copper, tellurium, and arsenic oxides, have been incorporated to increase low temperature activity and productivity (39,45,46). 

Benzene-Based Catalyst Technology. The catalyst used for the conversion of ben2ene to maleic anhydride consists of supported vanadium oxide [11099-11-9]. The support is an inert oxide such as kieselguhr, alumina [1344-28-17, or sUica, and is of low surface area (142). Supports with higher surface area adversely affect conversion of benzene to maleic anhydride. The conversion of benzene to maleic anhydride is a less complex oxidation than the conversion of butane, so higher catalyst selectivities are obtained. The vanadium oxide on the surface of the support is often modified with molybdenum oxides. There is approximately 70% vanadium oxide and 30% molybdenum oxide [11098-99-0] in the active phase for these fixed-bed catalysts (143). The molybdenum oxide is thought to form either a soUd solution or compound oxide with the vanadium oxide and result in a more active catalyst (142). 

Similar to molybdenum oxide catalyst the capability to emit singlet oxygen is inherent to Si02 doped by Cr ions as well. Similar to the case of vanadium oxide catalysts in this system the photogeneration occurs due to the triplet-triplet electron excitation transfer from a charge transfer complex to adsorbed oxygen. 

The vanadium(IV) complex of salen in zeolite was found to be an effective catalyst for the room temperature epoxidation of cyclohexene using t-butyl hydroperoxide as oxidant.88 Well-characterized vanadyl bis-bipyridine complexes encapsulated in Y zeolite were used as oxidation catalysts.101 Ligation of manganese ions in zeolites with 1,4,7-triazacyclononanes gives rise to a binu-clear complex stabilized by the zeolites but allows oxidation with excellent selectivity (Scheme 7.4). 

Newer types of the dinuclear vanadium(IV) complex catalysts 84 have been developed. The abovementioned dinuclear vanadium complexes possess a VO V linkage whereas the ESR study on the catalyst 84 revealed no V—O—V linkage. The sense of enantioselection by the catalyst 84 of the (R,5,5)-structure is opposite to that of the binuclear complex 78a of the same (R,5,5)-structure. These results suggested two active sites attached to the binaphthyl skeleton in the catalyst 84 performed the dual activation of 2-naphthols in the oxidative couphng to achieve high enantioselectivity ... 

The technique of solid-state NMR used to characterize supported vanadium oxide catalysts has been recently identified as a powerful tool (22, 23). NMR is well suited for the structural analysis of disordered systems, such as the two-dimensional surface vanadium-oxygen complexes to be present on the surfaces, since only the local environment of the nucleus under study is probed by this method. The nucleus is very amenable to solid-state NMR investigations, because of its natural abundance (99.76%) and favourable relaxation characteristics. A good amount of work has already been reported on this technique (19, 20, 22, 23). Similarly, the development of MAS technique has made H NMR an another powerful tool for characterizing Br 6nsted acidity of zeolites and related catalysts. In addition to the structural information provided by this method direct proportionality of the signal intensity to the number of contributing nuclei makes it a very useful technique for quantitative studies. 

Acetic acid is formed when methane reacts with CO or C02 in aqueous solution in the presence of 02 or H202 catalyzed by vanadium complexes.327 A Rh-based FeP04 catalyst applied in a fixed-bed reactor operating at atmospheric pressure at 300-400° C was effective in producing methyl acetate in the presence of nitrous oxide.328 The high dispersion of Rh at sites surrounded by iron sites was suggested to be a key factor for the carbonylation reaction. 

As with TME oxidation, the vanadium (IV) complex, [(CsH oVClo], did not readily initiate cyclohexene oxidation. This complex, however, is an efficient catalyst for allylic alcohol epoxidation. The ability of the vanadium complex to initiate oxidation seems to be a function of its... 

There are also several situations where the metal can act as both a homolytic and heterolytic catalyst. For example, vanadium complexes catalyze the epoxidation of allylic alcohols by alkyl hydroperoxides stereoselectively,57 and they involve vanadium(V) alkyl peroxides as reactive intermediates. However, vanadium(V)-alkyl peroxide complexes such as (dipic)VO(OOR)L, having no available coordination site for the complexation of alkenes to occur, react homolyti-cally.46 On the other hand, Group VIII dioxygen complexes generally oxidize alkenes homolytically under forced conditions, while some rhodium-dioxygen complexes oxidize terminal alkenes to methyl ketones at room temperature. 

One of the most significant results from the advent of these surface science studies on oxides relevant for the present catalytic applications is the fact that oxides can be multiply terminated and that they are not terminated [154, 180, 186-190] in cuts through the bulk structure. This is not unexpected in general [98,156,179] but it is of great value to know this in attempts to understand the mechanisms that activate oxides for catalysis. These rigorous studies must be differentiated from more empirical studies carried out on termination issue with qualitative methods and without predictive power but with the still invaluable advantage that they can be applied [97,191-193] to complex MMO catalyst systems. Such studies can be used to probe the surface reactivity, to address the issue of segregation of, for example, vanadium out of an MMO system and to compare different qualities of the nominally same material with speculative assumptions about the influence of defects. 

Asymmetric Oxidations Catalytic asymmetric oxidation of sulfides has attracted great interest in recent decades. The field is dominated by use of titanium, manganese and vanadium complexes, and examples of the use of iron catalysts are less common. The challenging asymmetric oxidation of sulfides with non-heme iron catalysts has been achieved with success in a few cases. 

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... 

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