Vanadomolybdophosphoric acid/fluorapatite solid-phase system for aerobic oxidative dehydrogenation

We developed a solid-phase-oxidation-system using FAp disperse phase and vanadomolybdophosphoric acid (H3+nPVnMo12−nO40: PVn) catalysts with molecular oxygen as a new green reaction system. The PV4/FAp system was an efficient and recyclable solid-catalyst system for solvent-free oxidative dehydrogenation of α-terpinene to p-cymene under 1 atm of molecular oxygen at 50 °C. The catalytic activity in the solid-phase system was comparable to that in the homogeneous liquid-phase system with acetonitrile. Even if under air conditions, PV4/FAp system was able to promote the catalytic dehydrogenation at room temperature sufficiently.