SELECTIVE OXIDATION OF N-HEXANE OVER A TITANIUM SILICATE MOLECULAR-SIEVE WITH MEL STRUCTURE

The selective oxidation of n-hexane to secondary alcohols and ketones has been carried out with hydrogen peroxide using TS-2, a titanium silicate molecular sieve, as the catalyst. TS-2 is found to be highly selective in the oxidation of alkanes. The influence of various parameters, such as the Ti/(Si + Ti) ratio of TS-2, its concentration, the temperature of the reaction, the feed ratio (n-C6:H2O2), the nature of the solvent and the substrate (reactant) size and shape, on the activity and selectivity in the oxyfunctionalization reaction are reported.