Greener and efficient epoxidation of 4-vinyl-1-cyclohexene with polystyrene 2-(aminomethyl)pyridine supported Mo(VI) catalyst in batch and continuous reactors

• Polystyrene 2-(aminomethyl)pyridine supported Mo(VI) complex (i.e. Ps.AMP.Mo) was prepared.
• Epoxidation of 4-vinyl-1-cyclohexene with TBHP was catalysed by Ps.AMP.Mo catalyst.
• The process is atom efficient and environmentally friendly.
• The ANN modelling has successfully predicted the catalytic performance.
• Molybdenum leaching from polymer support was due to soluble leached complex.

Polystyrene 2-(aminomethyl)pyridine supported Mo(VI) complex, i.e. Ps.AMP.Mo catalyst has been successfully prepared and characterised. The catalytic performance of the Ps.AMP.Mo catalyst in epoxidation of 4-vinyl-1-cyclohexene (4-VCH) with tert-butyl hydroperoxide (TBHP) as an oxidant has been studied under different reaction conditions in batch and continuous reactors. The stability of the polymer supported molybdenum (Mo) catalyst has been evaluated by recycling Ps.AMP.Mo catalyst several times in batch reactions using conditions that forms the basis for continuous epoxidation in a FlowSyn continuous flow reactor. Leaching of Mo from polymer support has been investigated by isolating any residues from reaction supernatant solutions following the removal of heterogeneous catalyst and using these residues as potential catalyst in epoxidation. The results of batch and continuous epoxidation studies were modelled using artificial neural network (ANN) to predict the catalytic performance of Ps.AMP.Mo catalyst. The catalyst was found to be highly active and selective for batch and continuous epoxidation of 4-VCH with TBHP and could be reused several times without significant loss in activity. The ANN modelling of batch and continuous epoxidation experimental data has successfully predicted the catalytic performance of Ps.AMP.Mo under different reaction conditions.

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