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Understanding the Role of Designed Solid Acid Sites in the Low‐Temperature Production of ϵ ‐Caprolactam
Author(s) -
Potter Matthew E.,
Chapman Stephanie,
O'Malley Alexander J.,
Levy Alan,
Carravetta Marina,
Mezza Thomas M.,
Parker Stewart F.,
Raja Robert
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
chemcatchem
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.497
H-Index - 106
eISSN - 1867-3899
pISSN - 1867-3880
DOI - 10.1002/cctc.201700516
Subject(s) - caprolactam , cyclohexanone oxime , catalysis , beckmann rearrangement , commodity , population , production (economics) , polymer , commodity chemicals , organic chemistry , cyclohexanone , materials science , chemistry , chemical engineering , business , engineering , economics , macroeconomics , demography , finance , sociology
Modern society is placing increasing demands on commodity chemicals, driven by the ever‐growing global population and the desire for improved standards of living. As the polymer industry grows, a sustainable route to ϵ ‐caprolactam, the precursor to the recyclable nylon‐6 polymer, is becoming increasingly important. To this end, we have designed and characterized a recyclable SAPO catalyst using a range of characterization techniques, to achieve near quantitative yields of ϵ ‐caprolactam from cyclohexanone oxime. The catalytic process operates under significantly less energetically demanding conditions than other widely practiced industrial processes.