Oxidation of ethylbenzene over Ti-, V- and Sn-containing silicalites with MFI structure Original Research Article

The oxidation of ethylbenzene has been carried out over TS-1, VS-1 and Sn-silicalite-1 (MFI structure) using H2O2 as oxidant at 333–353 K. The major products were 1-phenylethanol and acetophenone arising from the oxidation of the side chain. Aromatic ring hydroxylation leads to the formation of ortho-andpara-hydroxy ethylbenzene as a minor side reaction. The differences in the product selectivities could be explained on the basis of the reaction intermediates. Among the three metallo-silicates, Sn-silicalite-1 is found to be the most active with an H2O2 efficiency of about 60 mol.%. The influence of various reaction parameters on the conversion and selectivity of ethylbenzene over Sn-silicalite-1 is reported.