Oxidative dehydrogenation of isobutyric acid over 12-molybdophosphoric acids modified by tetrahydrofuran

In this work, H3PMo12O40 (PMo) and CS2.75H0.25PMo12O40 (CsPMo) were modifie d via the polymerization of tetrahydrofuran (THF), followed by thermal trea tment to be used as model catalysts for the oxidative dehydrogenation of is obutyric acid (IBA) into methacrylic acid (MAA). The THF-treated catalysts retained partially reduced stable structures with high surface areas. The T HF-treated catalysts showed higher IBA conversions acid MAA yields than the corresponding mother catalysts. The THF-treated CsPMo catalyst showed the best catalytic performance among the catalysts tested. It is concluded that the high surface area, the suitable acidity, and the partially reduced sta ble structure of the THF-treated CsPMo catalyst were responsible for this c atalytic performance. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.