Inhibition of a Gold-Based Catalyst in Benzyl Alcohol Oxidation: Understanding and Remediation

Inhibition of a Gold-Based Catalyst in Benzyl Alcohol Oxidation: Understanding and Remediation

Skupien, E.
Berger, R.J.
Santos, V.P.
Gascon, J.
Makkee, M.
Kreutzer, M.T.
Kooyman, P.J.
Moulijn, J.A.
Kapteijn, F.

Applied Sciences

ChemE/Chemical Engineering

2014-04-15

Benzyl alcohol oxidation was carried out in toluene as solvent, in the presence of the potentially inhibiting oxidation products benzaldehyde and benzoic acid. Benzoic acid, or a product of benzoic acid, is identified to be the inhibiting species. The presence of a basic potassium salt (K2CO3 or KF) suppresses this inhibition, but promotes the formation of benzyl benzoate from the alcohol and aldehyde. When a small amount of water is added together with the potassium salt, an even greater beneficial effect is observed, due to a synergistic effect with the base. A kinetic model, based on the three main reactions and four major reaction components, is presented to describe the concentration-time profiles and inhibition. The inhibition, as well as the effect of the base, was captured in the kinetic model, by combining strong benzoic acid adsorption and competitive adsorption with benzyl alcohol. The effect of the potassium salt is accounted for in terms of neutralization of benzoic acid.

gold
catalysis
benzyl alcohol
oxidation
deactivation
inhibition
mechanism
kinetics
modeling
OA-Fund TU Delft

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:ad7a0a8b-55dd-4990-8f0c-c0e099dad6ee

https://doi.org/10.3390/catal4020089

MDPI

2073-4344

http://www.mdpi.com/2073-4344/4/2/89

Catalysts, 4 (2), 2014

Institutional Repository

journal article

© 2014 The Author(s)
This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/)