Synthesis and Characterization of Co–Mn Nanoparticles Immobilized on a Modified Bentonite and Its Application for Oxidation of p-Xylene to Terephthalic Acid

Manganese and Cobalt Doped Hierarchical Mesoporous Halloysite-Based Catalysts for Selective Oxidation of p-Xylene to Terephthalic Acid

Bimetallic MnCo catalyst, supported on the mesoporous hierarchical MCM-41/halloysite nanotube composite, was synthesized for the first time and proved its efficacy in the selective oxidation of p-xylene to terephthalic acid under conditions of the AMOCO process. Quantitative yields of terephthalic acid were achieved within 3 h at 200–250 °C, 20 atm. of O2 and at a substrate to the Mn + Co ratio of 4–4.5 times higher than for traditional homogeneous system. The influence of temperature, oxygen, pressure and KBr addition on the catalyst activity was investigated, and the mechanism for the oxidation of p-toluic acid to terephthalic acid, excluding undesirable 4-carboxybenzaldehyde, was proposed.

Biotransformation of p-xylene into terephthalic acid by engineered Escherichia coli

Terephthalic acid (TPA) is an important industrial chemical currently produced by energy intensive and potentially hazardous p-xylene (pX) oxidation process. Here we report the development of metabolically engineered Escherichia coli system for biological transformation of pX into TPA. The engineered E. coli strain harbours a synthetic TPA pathway optimized through manipulation of expression levels of upstream and downstream modules. The upstream pathway converts pX to p-toluic acid (pTA) and the downstream pathway transforms pTA to TPA. In a two-phase partitioning fermentation, the engineered strain converts 8.8 g pX into 13.3 g TPA, which corresponds to a conversion yield of 96.7 mol%. These results suggest that the E. coli system presented here might be a promising alternative for the large-scale biotechnological production of TPA and lays the foundations for the future development of sustainable approaches for TPA production.

Oxidation of cyclohexanol to adipic acid with molecular oxygen catalyzed by ZnO nanoparticles immobilized on hydroxyapatite

ZnO nanoparticles formed in microemulsion droplets for aerobic oxidation of cyclohexanol.

Green synthesis, characterization and catalytic activity of natural bentonite-supported copper nanoparticles for the solvent-free synthesis of 1-substituted 1H-1,2,3,4-tetrazoles and reduction of 4-nitrophenol

In this study, Cu nanoparticles were immobilized on the surface of natural bentonite using Thymus vulgaris extract as a reducing and stabilizing agent. The natural bentonite-supported copper nanoparticles (Cu NPs/bentonite) were characterized by FTIR spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray fluorescence (XRF), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), selected area electron diffraction (SAED) and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) analysis. Afterward, the catalytic performance of the prepared catalyst was investigated for the solvent-free synthesis of 1-substituted 1H -1,2,3,4-tetrazoles and reduction of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) in water. It was found that the Cu NPs/bentonite is a highly active and recyclable catalyst for related reactions.