The role of the geometric factor in the selective oxidation of lower paraffins at VPO catalysts

For the most widely published oxidation of n-butane at vanadium-phosphorus catalysts it was shown that the geometric factor plays a deciding role in the formation of the selective oxidation products. The mechanism proposed for the transformation of the paraffin at the 100] plane of the vanadyl pyrophosphate, which takes account of the geometry of the molecule being oxidized, explains the observed experimental facts, i.e., the increase in the oxidation rate with increase in the effective negative charge at the oxygen atoms of the catalyst, the positive effect of the hyperstoichiometric phosphorus on the selectivity of oxidation, the increased selectivity of oxidation with the introduction of additives that form phosphates, and the difference in the characteristics and mechanism of the oxidation of a paraffin and C₄ olefins. On the basis of the proposed mechanism suggestions are made about possible paths for the transofrmation of C₂−C₆ paraffins at VPO catalysts and the factors that could affect the selectivity of these processes. A number of the suggestions were confirmed by the author's own investigations and by published investigations. L. V. Pisarzhevskii Institute of Physical Chemistry, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, 31 Prospekt Nauki, Kiev 252039, Ukraine. Translated from Teoreticheskaya i éksperimental'naya Khimiya, Vol. 35, No. 5, pp. 265–276, September–October, 1999.