OXIDATION OF ETHYLBENZENE OVER TI-CONTAINING, V-CONTAINING AND SN-CONTAINING SILICALITES WITH MFI STRUCTURE

The oxidation of ethylbenzene has been carried out over TS-1, VS-1 and Sn-silicalite-1 (MFI structure) using H2O2 as oxidant at 333-353 K. T he major products were 1-phenylethanol and acetophenone arising from t he oxidation of the side chain. Aromatic ring hydroxylation leads to t he formation of ortho-and para-hydroxy ethylbenzene as a minor side re action. The differences in the product selectivities could be explaine d on the basis of the reaction intermediates. Among the three metallo- silicates, Sn-silicalite-1 is found to be the most active with an H2O2 efficiency of about 60 mol.%. The influence of various reaction param eters on the conversion and selectivity of ethylbenzene over Sn-silica lite-1 is reported.