Titanium silicalite catalyst in a polymer matrix for the co-production of catechol and hydroquinone

Abstract

A method for synthesizing new catalytical systems based on titanium silicalite (TS-1) is proposed for the liquid phase oxidation of phenol by hydrogen peroxide, allowing in turn a continuous instead of cyclical process with a yield of 90–92% on hydroquinone and catechol (1: 1) with the intermediate separation of vaporous catalyst-titanum silicalite. The method is based on encapsulating TS-1 in a polymeric matrix (polypropylene, polyethylene, polystyrene, or their copolymers). The nature of the polymeric matrix’s effects on the catalytical properties of the system is shown using TS-1/polypropylene and TS-1/polystyrene sytems as examples. The catalytical properties of TS-1/polypropylene and TS-1/polystyrene systems with features of an industrial catalyst (EniChem) are compared. Use of the TS-1/polypropylene catalytical system allows us to improve the performance of current technologies and considerably lower energy consumption.