CATALYST POTENTIAL - A KEY FOR CONTROLLING ALCOHOL OXIDATION IN MULTIPHASE REACTORS

The possibilities and advantages of measuring the catalyst potential during alcohol oxidation with molecular oxygen and supported platinum metal catalysts is discussed. The steady-state catalyst potential is a sensitive indicator of the balance between oxidation and reduction processes taking place on the active sites. In this short review we focus on the application of the potential measurements for adjusting the rate of oxygen supply to the rate of alcohol oxidation and avoiding catalyst deactivation. Other uses are the control of selectivity in the consecutive reaction sequence alcohol --> aldehyde --> acid and the elucidation of the nature of catalyst deactivation. The partial oxidation of cinnamyl alcohol in a multi-phase reactor has been chosen as an example.