Styrene oxidation with H2O2 over Ti-containing molecular sieves with MFI, BEA and MCM-41 topologies Original Research Article

A comparative study concerning the use of Ti-containing molecular sieves with MFI (TS-1), BEA (Ti-beta) and MCM-41 (TiMCM-41) topologies for the styrene oxidation in liquid phase by hydrogen peroxide was performed. The major reactions were epoxidation of styrene, the isomerization of styrene oxide into phenylacetaldehyde (PhAA) as well as its oxidative cleavage into benzaldehyde (BzA) and formaldehyde. A high selectivity to PhAA was observed over TS-1, whereas the BzA formation is predominant on Ti-beta and TiMCM-41. Also, the influence of the reaction time and the nature of solvent on the styrene conversion, the selectivity of hydrogen peroxide consumption and on the product distribution were studied.