Zr mesoporous molecular sieves as novel solid acid catalysts in synthesizing nitrile and caprolactam

Zr mesoporous materials with different Si/Zr ratio were synthesized by the surfactant-templated method involving cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) as template and tetraethyl ortho silicate (TEOS) as organic source of silicon. The synthesized materials were labeled as SiZrMx (where x is Si/Zr = 10, 20 and 30). The BET analysis showed bimodal distribution of pores in SiZrMx structure. An attempt was made to generate super acidity on SiZrM20 by sulfation using sulfuric acid and ammonium sulfate (wt% = 4, 8 and 12). The NH3-TPD results revealed the presence of strong acidity in sulfated Zr-MCM-41. To understand the nature of acidity in Sulfated Zr-MCM-41, the efficiency of the materials is investigated in dehydration of Oximes. The industrially important materials caprolactam and intermediate nitrile were synthesized from their oximes in liquid phase system. Due to strong acidity in sulfated Zr-MCM-41, fast deactivation was observed during the synthesis of caprolactam but, the catalyst showed 96% nitrile selectivity. The strong acidity and medium strong acidity favoured the formation of nitrile and caprolactam respectively. This study revealed the molecular sieves were effective and eco-friendly solid acid catalysts for synthesizing caprolactam and nitrile.