Silver is used in the epoxidation of double bonds, and the use of silver and copper nanoparticles in epoxidation has attracted considerable attention. For industrial applications supported forms of the catalyst are necessary to enable easy separation of (expensive) catalyst from the reactants and products. Hierarchically porous monoliths provide large highly accessible surface areas, and are expected to be very suitable for use in fixed bed microreactors and reactors. We have previously synthesized silver supported on hierarchically porous silica and cobalt oxide (Co3O4) monoliths and demonstrated the ability of these materials to catalyze the hydrogenation of various dyes. These materials are also suitable for epoxidation and we are studying the reactions of hydrogen peroxide, t-butyl peroxide and t-butyl hydroperoxide with cycloehexene in the presence of silver supported on hierarchically porous silica and cobalt oxide. Silver supported on hierarchically porous silica monoliths catalyzes the reaction of hydrogen peroxide with cyclohexene in refluxing acetonitrile to give a 33% yield of the cyclohexane epoxide.

Evaluation of Ag/SiO2 and Ag/Co3O4 Hierarchically porous monoliths for epoxidations

249th National Meeting (2015)

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