Limonene epoxidation on selected titanium-silicate catalyst

The studies on limonene epoxidation over the titanium silicate catalysts such as: TS-1, Ti-MWW, Ti-MCM-41 and Ti-SBA-15 with methanol or acetonitrile as solvents and with 30 wt% hydrogen peroxide as an oxidant were carried out. Limonene epoxidation was performed in the water bath, under reflux, at the temperature range of 70-100oC and during 60-180 minutes. After the appropriate reaction time a sample was taken from the reaction mixture and it was analyzed by the GC method. The best from the studied catalysts was TS-1. During the epoxidation with TS-1 catalyst, only 1,2-epoxylimonene was formed, without by-product, such as 1,2-epoxylimonene diol. During the epoxidations over other titanium silicate catalysts 1,2-epoxylimonene and its diol or only 1,2-epoxylimonene itself were formed. The aim of these studies was to determine to which compounds may limonene react at the reaction conditions and in the presence of titanium-silicate catalyst - qualitative research