Carbon Monoxide Assisted Epoxidation of Butene

It has been reported by Davis and coworkers that hydrogen peroxide is generated during low temperature, aqueous phase, CO oxidation over supported Au catalysts [1]. In principal, this hydrogen peroxide can be used to effect epoxidation or other oxidation reactions. Thus, it is of interest to determine the efficiency of its production from CO oxidation and of its consumption in epoxidation. We have conducted such quantitative measurements by determining the consumption of CO, oxygen, and olefin (butene) quantitatively. Oxygen consumption was determined for both the gas and aqueous phase oxidation over a Au/TiO2 catalyst and a binary catalytic system consisting of a physical mixture of Au/TiO2 and TS-1 catalysts. Excess oxygen consumption relative that used for stoichiometric oxidation of CO was observed only when the catalyst was in the liquid phase, and it can be maintained only when butene is also in the reaction mixture. The presence of butene epoxide in the liquid phase was determined, and its was an order of magnitude higher for the binary catalytic system than over Au/TiO2.

Reference

[1]W.C. ketchie,M. Murayama, and R. J. Davis, Top. in Catal. 44(2007) 307.