Xingtian Shu

By Changjiu Xia, Min Lin, Bin Zhu, Yibin Luo and Xingtian Shu

The systematical investigation on the synthesis, characterization, formation mechanism, and catalytic application of hollow titanium silicalite (HTS) zeolite has been reviewed. HTS is prepared through a “dissolution–recrystallization” post-treatment in the presence of template under hydrothermal conditions. Compared with TS-1, HTS is of unique hollow voids and with high framework Ti content, which significantly increase the mass diffusion and the amount of active sites, respectively. Thus, HTS zeolite displays high catalytic activity and stability in many oxidation processes with H2O2 oxidant, that is, cyclohexanone ammoximation, phenol hydroxylation, propylene epoxidation, Baeyer-Villiger oxidation of cyclohexanone, and selective oxidation of aromatics and cycloalkanes. The former three ones have been commercialized and run smoothly, which have promising economic and environmental significance.

Part of the book: Zeolites

By Changjiu Xia, Xinxin Peng, Yao Zhang, Baorong Wang, Min Lin, Bin Zhu, Yibin Luo and Xingtian Shu

Since it was claimed by EniChem in 1983 for the first time, titanium silicate‐1 (TS‐1) zeolite presented the most delightful catalytic performance in the area of selective organic oxidation reactions. To enhance the mass diffusion property, hierarchical titanium silicate with hollow cavities within crystal was prepared by using a post‐synthesis treatment in the presence of organic template, and then, it was commercially produced and employed in many industrial catalytic oxidation processes, such as propylene epoxidation, phenol hydroxylation, and cyclohexanone ammoximation. Moreover, we also developed several totally novel oxidation reactions on hollow titanium silicate (HTS) zeolite, i.e., Baeyer‐Villiger oxidation of cyclohexanone and chlorohydrination of allyl chloride with HCl and H2O2. In all cases, HTS shows much better catalytic performance than TS‐1, attributing to the mass diffusion intensification by introducing hollow cavities. On the other hand, enormous works on synthesizing hierarchical TS‐1 zeolites with open intracrystalline mesopores have been done via silanization treatment and recrystallization. Based on them, several bulk molecule oxidation processes with tert‐butyl hydroperoxide, such as epoxidation of fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) and large olefins, have been carried out. As a consequence, hierarchical TS‐1 zeolites supply a platform for developing environmental‐friendly catalytic oxidation processes to remarkably overcome the drawbacks of traditional routes.

Part of the book: Green Chemical