SBIR Phase I: Electrochemical Synthesis of Propylene Oxide Under Reductive Conditions

研究了由丙烯/氧混合物一步法直接电化学合成环氧丙烷的方法，以及同时生成过氧化氢和环氧化烯烃的双功能电催化剂。原位电化学生成过氧化氢的能力允许精确控制其局部浓度，并由此增强对环氧丙烷的选择性。所提出的方法还将允许通过对环氧丙烷半透膜直接去除产品。过氧化氢的发电将由金或负载的金属大环（ni -酞菁或comeso -四苯基卟啉）催化。锰-中四苯基卟啉或钛硅石可催化丙烯环氧化。该计划的成功完成将导致烯烃环氧化的选择性，高收率工艺。在这个项目中开发的技术将为使用原位电化学生成的过氧化氢生产环氧烯烃提供一条成本显著降低的途径，这将引起这些类型材料制造商的极大兴趣。

This proposal addresses the one-step direct electrochemical synthesis of propylene oxide from propylene/oxygen mixtures and a bifunctional electrocatalyst for simultaneously generating hydrogen peroxide and epoxidizing olefins. The ability to in situ electrochemically generate hydrogen peroxide allows for the precise control of its local concentration and the resultant enhancement of selectivity to propylene oxide. The proposed approach will also allow for direct removal of product through a membrane semipermeable to propylene oxide. Hydrogen peroxide electrogeneration will be catalyzed by either gold or a supported metallomacrocycle (Ni-phthalocyanine or Comeso-tetraphenylporphyrin). Propylene epoxidation will be catalyzed by Mn-meso-tetraphenylporphyrin or titanium silcalite. Successful completion of the program will result in a selective, high yield process for the epoxidation of olefins. The technology developed in this program should provide a significantly lower cost route to olefin epoxides using in situ electrochemically generated hydrogen peroxide and should be of great interest to manufacturers of these types of materials.