A Study of the Kinetics and Mechanism of Liquid-Phase Oxidation of Ethyl¬ben¬-Zene in the Presence of Cobalt-Based Polymer Catalysts With Active Centers Tuned to Hydrocarbon Substrates

Abstract

The focus of the present study is liquid-phase oxidation of alkylaromatic hydrocarbons, particularly that of ethylbenzene, in the presence of cobalt-based polymer complexes tuned to ethylbenzene and obtained based on cobalt salts and a copolymer of diethyl ether of phenylphosphonic acid with acrylic acid. The reaction was carried out without solvent at atmospheric pressure and 900C temperature in a glass temperature-controlled equipped reactor. Oxidation was carried out by bubbling gaseous oxygen through the reaction mass. It is shown that tuning leads to a significant increase in the rate of formation of oxidation products. The heterogeneous-homogeneous mechanism of the process, the formation of radicals on the surface with their subsequent release into the liquid volume and the formation of products based on the radical-chain mechanism have been established. We also studied the specificity of the complexʹs ability to tune to α-phenylethyl hydroperoxide in a way identical to its ability to tune to ethylbenzene. As a result of our study, α-phenylethyl hydroperoxide, methylphenylcarbinol and acetophenone were obtained