Vapour phase oxidation of acetophenone to benzoic acid over binary oxides of V and Mo

Test data for catalytic oxidation of acetophenone into benzoic acid performed at bench scale with V2O5-MoO3 catalyst in a continuous downflow metal reactor are presented. The process parameters such as temperature and flow rate influence the product distribution. The P2O5, B2O3 and Na2O when used as dopant on V2O5-MoO3 catalyst showed marked influence on activity and selectivity. An acidic catalyst like V2O5-MoO3-P2O5 favours formation of benzoic acid while a basic catalyst like V2O5-MoO3-Na2O favours formation of benzaldehyde. The addition of Na2O into V2O5-MoO3 binary oxides formed new phases (NaVMoO6 and Na2V2Mo3O15), which increased Arrhenius activation energy from 18.24 to 31.35 kcal mol(-1).