Higher Acetone Conversion Obtained Over a TiO2–Pd Bifunctional Catalyst for Liquid-Phase Synthesis of Methyl Isobutyl Ketone: The Role of Al2O3 Support

Abstract

We reported a bifunctional catalyst TiO2/Al2O3 and Pd/Cor for one-pot liquid-phase synthesis of MIBK from acetone in this paper. The characterizations of FT-IR, Raman spectra, TEM, XPS, CO2-TPD, NH3-TPD, Py-IR and TGA spectra revealed that the TiO2/Al2O3 could possess more acid sites and especially Lewis acid sites due to the coexistence of TiO2 and Al2O3. So a higher acetone conversion 35–45% at 150 °C and 2.0 MPa pressure was achieved than ever reported for MIBK liquid-phase synthesis. In addition, the catalyst could keep active for at least 90 h on stream at 80–90% MIBK selectivity. The phenomenon of carbonaceous accumulation on TiO2/Al2O leaded to the deactivation of catalyst. Because of the coexistence of TiO2 and Al2O3. TiO2/Al2O3 could have more acid sites and especially Lewis acid sites. For liquid-phase synthesis of methyl isobutyl ketone, bifunctional catalyst TiO2/Al2O3&Pd/Cor showed higher acetone conversion.