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A Novel Route to One-step Formation of ɛ-caprolactam from Cyclohexane and Nitrosyl Sulfuric Acid Catalyzed by VPO Composites

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Abstract

A series of VPO composites were employed to catalyze the reaction of cyclohexane with nitrosyl sulfuric acid in the presence of fuming sulfuric acid. To our delight, ɛ-caprolactam was for the first time directly obtained through such one-step catalytic process. VPO composite catalysts were proven to be efficient for the reaction, especially, the transition metals introduced to Al–VPO composite catalysts could improve the reactions selectivity to some extent. Among them, the Mn–Al-VPO composite catalyst gave the best results with 11.65% of conversion and 34.70% of selectivity to ɛ-caprolactam. While the conversion and selectivity are too low at this time to be commercially viable, this discovery establishes a potential new single step process for making ɛ-caprolactam from cyclohexane. A reaction mechanism is proposed.

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Acknowledgment

The authors thank the financial support for this work by the National Natural Sciences Foundation of China (20233040, 20572021).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Chemical Engineering, Xiangtan University, Xiangtan, 411105, P.R. China

    Kuiyi You, Liqiu Mao, Pingle Liu & He’an Luo

  2. Institute of Fine Catalysis and Synthesis, Hunan Normal University, Changsha, 410081, P.R. China

    Bohua Wu, Liqiu Mao & Dulin Yin

Authors
  1. Kuiyi You
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  2. Bohua Wu
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  3. Liqiu Mao
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  4. Dulin Yin
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  5. Pingle Liu
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  6. He’an Luo
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Correspondence to Dulin Yin or He’an Luo.

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You, K., Wu, B., Mao, L. et al. A Novel Route to One-step Formation of ɛ-caprolactam from Cyclohexane and Nitrosyl Sulfuric Acid Catalyzed by VPO Composites. Catal Lett 118, 129–133 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10562-007-9168-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10562-007-9168-8

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