Propene carbonate intensified cyclohexane oxidation over Au/SiO2 catalyst

• Propylene carbonate was selected as a green solvent for cyclohexane oxidation.
• High conversion was obtained using propylene carbonate as solvent.
• Intensified effect of solvent is analyzed by quantum calculation.
• Effects of solvent polarity and molecule structure are investigated.
• Propylene carbonate seems promising for industrial application with Au/SiO2 catalyst.

Intensification of solvent for cyclohexane oxidation was performed over Au/SiO2 catalyst in different solvents. Propylene carbonate (PC) was found to significantly enhance the reaction of cyclohexane oxidation with 21.9% cyclohexane conversion while remain a high selectivity of 83.2% towards cyclohexanone and cyclohexanol. The intensified effect of PC can be attributed to its high polarity resulting from its high dipole moment that is induced by its cyclic carbonate structure, which is analyzed by quantum calculation based on Gaussian and COSMO-RS. Moreover, PC can facilitate the reaction by promoting the decomposition of cyclohexyl hydroperoxide.

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