Epoxidation of 1-hexene with hydrogen peroxide over nitrogen-incorporated TS-1 zeolite

• Epoxidation of 1-hexene with dilute H2O2 over nitrogen-incorporated TS-1 was studied.
• The catalytic activity of TS-1 for 1-hexene epoxidation was enhanced by nitridation.
• A new TiOOH intermediate with double hydrogen bonds was proposed.

Nitrogen-incorporated TS-1 zeolite (N-TS-1) was synthesized by direct calcining the as-synthesized TS-1 powder in NH3 flow at high temperature. Epoxidation of 1-hexene with dilute H2O2 over N-TS-1 was studied. The results showed that the catalytic activity and selectivity of TS-1 were greatly improved upon post-synthetic nitridation. A new TiOOH intermediate with double hydrogen bonds was proposed. The new intermediate was more stable due to the presence of another hydrogen bond, which was formed between the stable nitrogen species and the H atom of the conventional five-member-ring intermediate, thereby improving the epoxidation activity.

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