Highly selective co-production of nitrocyclohexane and adipic acid from vapor phase catalytic nitration–oxidation of cyclohexane with NO2

A simple and efficient approach for highly selectivity co-production of nitrocyclohexane and adipic acid from vapor phase nitration–oxidation of cyclohexane with NO2 at atmospheric pressure has been successfully developed in this work. This finding provides a novel strategy for co-production of nitroalkanes and dicarboxylic acids from vapor phase nitration–oxidation of low-carbon cycloalkanes. This method may be very significant to establish such a synthesis process for aliphatic nitro-compounds and dicarboxylic acids in organic fields.

► A novel co-production route of nitrocyclohexane and adipic acid has been developed.
► New VPO composites effectively catalyze the reaction of cyclohexane with NO2.
► Total selectivity of nitrocyclohexane and adipic acid is high up to 95%.
► The possible catalytic nitration–oxidation mechanism of cyclohexane was proposed.