Catalytic Oxidation of Dimethyl Ether to Dimethoxymethane over Cs Modified H3PW12O40/SiO2 Catalysts

The attractive utilization route for one-step catalytic oxidation of dimethyl ether to dimethoxymethane was successfully carried out over the H3PW12O40(40%)/SiO2 catalyst, modified by Cs, K, Ni, and V. The Cs modification of H3PW12O40(40%)/SiO2 gave the most promising result of 20% dimethyl ether conversion and 34.8% dimethoxymethane selectivity. Dimethoxymethane could be synthe-sized via methoxy groups decomposed from dimethyl ether through the synergistic effect between the acid sites and the redox sites of Cs modified H3PW12O40(40%)/SiO2.