Effect of water on oxidative scission of 1-butene to acetic acid over V2O5-TiO2 catalyst. Transient isotopic and kinetic study Original Research Article

The role of water in the oxidation of 1-butene to AcOH over VOx-TiO2 was investigated using spectroscopic and transient isotopic exchange methods. It was shown that the influence of water strongly depended on the temperature of reaction. In particular, DRIFTS and NH3-TPD studies confirmed the temperature influence on the acidity and the amount of adsorbed water. XPS investigations suggested that not only oxygen from vanadia, but also from the lattice of titania was involved in the oxygen transfer during the reaction. Formation of oxidation products proceeded over two types of active vanadium oxide centers, i.e., VOH and VO. Hydrated vanadium species exhibited high selectivity towards AcOH formation. On the other hand, VO centers favored total oxidation. Kinetic model was developed for an unambiguous interpretation of the experimental results. Modelled reaction constants of the formation of AcOH over VOH centers were ca. 3.5 times higher than over VO centers. At the same time, the reaction rate constant of total oxidation in the presence of water was ca. 3.2 times lower than in dry flow. Estimated values suggested that in the presence of water the number of VOH centers was substantially lower than VO sites; however their contribution to the rate of AcOH formation was much higher.