St. Man et al., The effect of dehydration in the oxidation of ethylbenzene to acetophenonewith supported catalysts, ORG PROC R, 5(3), 2001, pp. 204-210
The influence of the product water formed in the catalytic oxidation of eth
ylbenzene to acetophenone using air in a batch reactor was studied. The wat
er adsorbed in the hydrophilic catalyst supports, that is, alumina or silic
a, has a significant negative effect on the oxidation processes. The applic
ation of a dehydration unit in the catalytic oxidation of ethylbenzene with
air in a batch reactor was studied using sulphuric acid, molecular sieves,
and silica gel as dehydrants. Processes were developed to use the dehydrat
ion unit to dehydrate the condensed product, from a Dean Stark trap, and th
e reaction mixture. Experimental results confirmed that an improvement in r
eaction performance was achieved using the dehydration unit to decrease the
water concentration in the reaction mixture below its saturation solubilit
y. The effect of a continuous increase in the temperature of the oxidation
process, compared to isothermal operation, is shown to improve the oxidatio
n performance.