The Mechanism of Ethylene Epoxidation Catalysis

Today ethylene oxide can be produced industrially with ~90 % selectivity through the epoxidation of ethylene over silver catalyst. The past decades there has been a substantial increase in the understanding of the molecular chemistry that leads to high selectivity catalysis. Especially the discovery...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Catalysis letters 2013-02, Vol.143 (2), p.131-141
Main Authors: Özbek, M. O., van Santen, R. A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acetaldehyde
Catalysis
Chemistry
Chemistry and Materials Science
Epoxidation
Ethylene
Ethylene oxide
Exact sciences and technology
General and physical chemistry
Industrial Chemistry/Chemical Engineering
Organic chemistry
Organometallic Chemistry
Perspective
Physical Chemistry
Selectivity
Theory of reactions, general kinetics. Catalysis. Nomenclature, chemical documentation, computer chemistry
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Summary:Today ethylene oxide can be produced industrially with ~90 % selectivity through the epoxidation of ethylene over silver catalyst. The past decades there has been a substantial increase in the understanding of the molecular chemistry that leads to high selectivity catalysis. Especially the discovery of an oxometallacycle intermediate that produces ethylene epoxide in competition with acetaldehyde can be considered a major advancement. The state of the surface at reaction conditions causes different reaction paths to compete. At high oxygen coverage also a direct epoxidation channel opens. We will also review recent progress on the understanding of promotion and coverage dependent reactivity. The contributions in our understanding of this reaction from computational catalysis will be emphasized. Graphical Abstract
ISSN:1011-372X
1572-879X
DOI:10.1007/s10562-012-0957-3