RuO2 supported on V2O5–Al2O3 material as heterogeneous catalyst for cyclohexane oxidation reaction

Abstract

RuO2 supported on V2O5–Al2O3 mixed oxide material was prepared by impregnation method and characterized by XRD, nitrogen adsorption–desorption, SEM, UV-visible and FT–IR spectroscopic techniques. The catalytic activity of the prepared catalyst was evaluated for the liquid-phase oxidation of cyclohexane under mild conditions. In this reaction, conversion of cyclohexane to cyclohexanol and cyclohexanone and the selectivity ratio of cyclohexanol to cyclohexanone were greatly affected by the solvent and the oxidant agent used. The results show that the catalyst exhibit good conversion in polar solvents. The use of acetic acid gives more than 26% conversion in presence of TBHP as oxidant and an ~40% conversion with hydrogen peroxide as oxidant in presence of an initiator, with 92% selectivity for cyclohexanol product.