Supported 12-molybdophosphoricacid: Characterization and non-solvent liquid phase oxidation of styrene

A series of solid catalysts comprising 12-molybdophosphoricacid (PM) and neutral alumina were synthesized by impregnation. The support. fresh as well as calcinated catalysts were characterized by various physical-chemical techniques. Further, the structure of PM onto the surface of the support was confirmed by P-31 MAS NMR and XPS. Non-solvent liquid phase oxidation of styrene was carried out with 30% aqueous H2O2 as an oxidant by varying different parameters over fresh catalysts. The catalytic activity of calcinated catalysts were also evaluated by carrying out same oxidation reaction underoptimized conditions. As solid catalysts, they show high conversion of styrene with good selectivity towards benzaldehyde and styrene epoxide. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.