Vanadia-doped titanium-pillared clay: Preparation, characterization and reactivity in the epoxidation of allylic alcohol (E)-2-hexen-1-ol

A series of vanadia supported titanium-pillared clay (Ti-PILC) with various amounts of vanadium were prepared, characterized then studied for epoxidation of allylic alcohol (E)-2-hexen-1-ol with tert-butylhydroperoxide (TBHP) as oxygen source. The Ti-PILC support was prepared by hydrolysis of TiCl4 or Ti(OC3H7)4 with HCl. Using a stoichiometric molar ratio TBHP/alcohol, it was found that vanadia supported on Ti-pillared clay is more active than Ti-pillared clay for the epoxidation and the Ti-source does not play the main role in the epoxidation process. It was also shown that 1 wt.% V supported on Ti-PILC promotes the epoxidation of (E)-2-hexen-1-ol without vanadia leaching, leading to heterogeneous catalysis.