Caprolactam Synthesis using Ce-MCM-41Catalysts

Abstract

Siliceous MCM-41 was synthesized by hydrothermal method using sodiummetasilicate as a source. Cerium ion incorporated Si-MCM-41 was synthesized by hydrothermal method using Cetyltrimethylammonium bromide as template. 2, 3 and 4 weight percentage of Ceria was loaded over MCM-41 by wet impregnation method. The synthesized catalysts were characterized using FT-IR, DRS-UV-Vis, XRD and SEM techniques. The catalytic activity of the cerium ion incorporated and ceria impregnated MCM-41 was evaluated in the synthesis of caprolactam from cyclohexanone oxime in the liquid phase condition. At high temperature all the catalyst showed high conversion. In that 4 wt.% Ce impregnated Si-MCM-41 produced high conversion (76.2%) and percentage yield (66.4%). The impregnated catalyst may contain more number of cerium present in the pores, so the lewis acid sites will be more and the conversion of cyclohexanone oxime into caprolactam will be high.