Vapor phase oxidation of methylpyridine aldehydes

A study is made of the contact oxidation of -, ß- and -methylpyridines by air, over the temperature range 390°–490° C, contact time 0.17–1.0 sec, mole ratio oxygenmethylpyridine 0.5 to 401, with dilution of the air-vapor mixture with water in the ratio 15–103 mole water per mole methylpyridine, using two vanadium oxide catalysts differing in respect of sizes of specific surface areas.Use of the low specific surface area catalyst increases the selectivity of the process, by diminishing the proportion of secondary reaction products of the aldehydes and decreasing the complete oxidation of the methylpyridines.