The development of catalytic oxovanadium(IV)-containing microspheres for the oxidation of various organosulfur compounds

The development of poly[allylSB-co-EGDMA] beads containing a tetradentate ligand was achieved via suspension polymerization. The catalyst poly[allylSB-co-EGDMA]-VO was synthesized by reacting VIVOSO4 with poly[allylSB-co-EGDMA]. XPS and EPR were used to confirm the presence of vanadium (V4+) on the beads. The synthesized catalyst (poly[allylSB-co-EGDMA]-VO) was found to have a BET surface area of 22 m2 g−1 and porosity of 135 Å, with the atomic force microscopy (AFM) showing more insight on the porous nature of the beads. Oxidation of thiophene (TH), benzothiophene (BT), dibenzothiophene (DBT) and 4,6-dimethyldibenzothiophene (4,6-DMDBT) was carried out using tert-butyl hydroperoxide (t-BuOOH) as oxidant. An overall conversion of 60%, 82%, 98% and 87% was achieved for thiophene (TH), benzothiophene (BT), dibenzothiophene (DBT) and 4,6 dimethyldibenzothiophene (4,6-DMDBT) respectively at higher (t-BuOOH) to substrate ratio and at a temperature of 40 °C. The efficient oxidation of the various organosulfur compounds presents potential for the possible application of this catalyst in oxidative desulfurization (ODS) of crude oil.Original publication is available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apcata.2013.05.00