Abstract

Selective Oxidation of Toluene to Benzaldehyde using Cu/Sn/Br Catalyst System

Author(s): Kalpendra Rajurkar, Nilesh Kulkarni, Vilas Rane and Rahul Shrivastava

Liquid phase oxidation of toluene to benzaldehyde using a bimetallic catalyst consisting salts of copper, stannous; and sodium bromide as a promoter in acetic acid medium in the pres ence of air as oxidant has been investigated. The effect of different reaction parameters like temperature, pressure, substrate concentration, catalyst c oncentration on the toluene conversion and selectivity to benzaldehyde, benzyl alcohol and benzoic acid were studied. The catalytic activity and selectivity was found to be strongly influenced by the temperature and catalyst concentration. Br was found to be an essential component to initiate the oxidation reaction. High selectivity to be nzaldehyde (50-65%) with good conversion was achieved using Cu/Sn/Br catalyst system.