Activity and stability of mesoporous molecular sieves modified with vanadium in the oxyfunctionalization of alpha-pinene

ANALÍA L. CÁNEPA; ELIANA G. VASCHETTO; EDUARDO R. HERRERO; GRISELDA A. EIMER; SANDRA G. CASUSCELLI

Congreso; 5th Czech-Italian-Spanish Conference on Molecular Sieves and Catalysis.; 2013

Selective oxyfunctionalization of terpenes is an interesting route to utilize these inexpensive natural products for numerous industrial applications. Thus, the oxygenated derivates obtained from the a-pinene oxidation in liquid phase (campholenic aldehyde, verbenol, verbenone) are important as flavor chemicals and precursors of fine chemicals, including sandalwood fragrance, taxol and vitamins A and E . Traditionally, the high aggregated value chemicals are frequently produced by classic organic chemistry, focusing only on the desired product instead of considering the synthesis route, which leads to generate significant amounts of contaminated effluents that cause a great environmental impact. Thus green chemistry appears as a practical approach to achieve clean technologies and sustainable developments, providing the catalysis as a fundamental tool to minimize the process steps and allow the use of mild reaction conditions. In addition, a catalytic process to be economically and environmentally viable, it is essential that the catalyst can be recovered and regenerated. However a particular problem associated with the use of solid catalysts in the liquid phase, as opposed to the gas phase, is the leaching of the metal ion into solution.