Fe/Nanoporous Carbon Catalysts Obtained from Molasses for the Limonene Oxidation Process

Abstract

Iron/nanoporous carbon catalysts (Fe/NPC) were used in the studies on limonene oxidation employing methanol as a solvent and aqueous hydrogen peroxide as an oxidizing agent. The nanoporous carbon support of the catalyst was produced from molasses, a sugar refinery waste product. To the best of our knowledge, there are no reports on the preparation of nanoporous carbon from molasses. The content of iron in the Fe/NPC catalysts studied included 0.68, 1.32 and 2.64 wt% Fe. The products of the limonene oxidation process were 1,2-epoxylimonene and its diol, carveol and perillyl alcohol, which are compounds with a large number of applications. The conversion of limonene reached 60 mol%. The “pure” NPC material was also active in the oxidation process. The utilized catalytic system is simple and cheap, and the use of environmentally-friendly H2O2 and the natural product limonene signify that this process can be considered as a “green process”. The results of the current research indicate that the utilization of molasses for the preparation of the carbonaceous catalysts active in the limonene oxidation is feasible, and these catalysts could be used in numerous industrial oxidation processes.Graphical