Hydrogenation of nitrocyclohexane to cyclohexanone oxime over Pd/CNT catalyst under mild conditions

The Pd/C, Pt/C, Ni/CNT and Pd/CNT catalysts were prepared by impregnation method and characterized by BET, XRD, TEM and H2 chemisorption. These catalysts were tested in the hydrogenation of nitrocyclohexane to cyclohexanone oxime. The results show that 5% Pd/CNT catalyst exhibits good performance, it gives nitrocyclohexane conversion of 97.6% and cyclohexanone oxime selectivity of 85.9% under mild conditions of 0.2 MPa and 323 K. The products include cyclohexanone oxime, cyclohexylamine, cyclohexanol and N-cyclohexylhydroxylamine. It has been found that higher temperature is in favor of the formation of cyclohexylamine, while the amount of cyclohexanol decreases with the increment of reaction temperature.

Graphical abstractFigure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slideHighlights►Nitrocyclohexane hydrogenation to cyclohexanone oxime over Pd/CNT catalysts. ►Nitrocyclohexane catalytic hydrogenation to cyclohexanone oxime under mild conditions. ►Pd/CNT catalyst gives 97.6% conversion and 85.9% selectivity to cyclohexanone oxime. ►The by-products were determined and better reaction condition was obtained.