Beckmann rearrangement on microporous and mesoporous silica

Abstract

Crosslinked Silicalite-1 and SBA-15 have been investigated as solid acid catalysts in the vapour phase Beckmann rearrangement reaction of cyclohexanone oxime to e-caprolactam. The catalytic activity of crosslinked colloidal Silicalite-1 is strongly dependent on the used amount of linker. With increasing amount of linker the external surface area increases as well as the catalytic activity. Surface modified SBA-15 was investigated to study the influence of pore dimensions, acid sites and catalytic activity in micro-and mesopores. A combination of these studies allows making suggestions concerning the location of the catalytic reaction.