Hydration of α-pinene over molybdophosphoric acid immobilized in hydrophobically modified PVA membranes

A kinetic-diffusion model was developed assuming that the reaction product α-terpineol affects the transport of water and α-pinene across the acetylated PVA membranes. When membrane acetylation increases, the model predicted kinetic constants for hydration and isomerization reactions decrease, although the initial water diffusivity increases. These results suggest that the increase of catalytic activity may be due to an improvement of water transport across the membrane.