Effect of oxidant on the epoxidation of methyl oleate over transition metal-based Al2O3 catalysts

Various transition metal-based Al2O3 catalysts are employed for the epoxidation of methyl oleate (MO) as a representative compound of fatty acid methyl ester (FAME). Two different oxidants, H2O2 and O2, are used for the oxidative epoxidation reaction and resulted in significantly different activities according to the catalytic properties of the Al2O3 catalysts. The reactivity for H2O2-based epoxidation of methyl oleate is proportional to the acidity of the catalysts. On the other hand, in O2-based epoxidation, the reactivity is strongly dependent on the redox properties of the catalysts and O2 behavior on the catalyst surface. Mo and Cu-based catalysts show outstanding catalytic performance with H2O2 and O2 via different reaction pathways. These results provide valuable information on the promising combination between catalysts and oxidants, which will be a useful guide for designing catalyst reaction processes according to the kind of oxidizing agent.

Automated summary

Various transition metal-based Al2O3 catalysts show significantly different activities in the epoxidation of methyl oleate using H2O2 and O2 as oxidants. The reactivity in H2O2-based epoxidation is proportional to the acidity of the catalysts, while in O2-based epoxidation, it depends on the redox properties of the catalysts and O2 behavior on the catalyst surface. Mo and Cu-based catalysts exhibit outstanding performance with H2O2 and O2 via different reaction pathways. These findings provide valuable insights for designing catalytic reaction processes based on the type of oxidizing agent.