G. Busca, E. Giamello, D. Pinelli
1993
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0
Influential Citations
2
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Journal
Studies in Surface Science and Catalysis
Abstract
Publisher Summary Cyclohexanone oxime is the reactant for the production of caprolactam, the monomer for nylon 6. Cyclohexanone oxime is produced in a multi-step process involving a liquid phase reaction of cyclohexanone with hydroxylamine catalyzed by dilute sulfuric acid. Two alternative ways of production of oxime have been proposed: i) ammoximation of cyclohexanone with ammonia in the presence of silica as catalyst and ii) ammoximation with ammonia and hydrogen peroxide with titanium silicalite as catalyst. This chapter presents a report of a pan of author's research on the ammoximation with molecular oxygen following the patent and papers of Armor et al.. They found that, using a high-surface-area commercial amorphous silica (Porasil A) as the catalyst, the cyclohexanone converts to the corresponding oxime at 200 °C in the presence of O2 as oxidant and NH3 as the source of nitrogen instead of hydroxylamine. The low yields obtained and the formation of heavy products which cannot desorb and remain on the catalyst surface as tars, causing fast deactivation, prevented this process to be developed.