Kinetic and structural understanding of bulk and supported vanadium-based catalysts for furfural oxidation to maleic anhydride

The kinetics of gas-phase furfural partial oxidation to maleic anhydride (MA) was studied over bulk vanadium–phosphorus-based catalysts obtained by aqueous (VPAq) and organic (VPOr) methods and compared to a supported V2O5/Al2O3 catalyst.

A New Process for Maleic Anhydride Synthesis from a Renewable Building Block: The Gas-Phase Oxidehydration of Bio-1-butanol

We investigated the synthesis of maleic anhydride by oxidehydration of a bio-alcohol, 1-butanol, as a possible alternative to the classical process of n-butane oxidation. A vanadyl pyrophosphate catalyst was used to explore the one-pot reaction, which involved two sequential steps: 1) 1-butanol dehydration to 1-butene, catalysed by acid sites, and 2) the oxidation of butenes to maleic anhydride, catalysed by redox sites. A non-negligible amount of phthalic anhydride was also formed. The effect of different experimental parameters was investigated with chemically sourced 1-butanol, and the results were then confirmed by using genuinely bio-sourced 1-butanol. In the case of bio-1-butanol, however, the purity of the product remarkably affected the yield of maleic anhydride. It was found that the reaction mechanism includes the oxidation of butenes to crotonaldehyde and the oxidation of the latter to either furan or maleic acid, both of which are transformed to produce maleic anhydride.