Selective oxidation of toluene to benzoic acid catalyzed by modified vanadium oxides

Abstract A variety of oxides were examined as additives to a V 2 O 5 /TiO 2 catalyst in order to enhance the catalytic performance for the vapor phase oxidation of toluene to benzoic acid. It was found that the modification with SeO 2 , TeO 2 or Sb 2 O 3 greatly promoted the title reaction leading to improved catalyst performance in terms of toluene conversion and benzoic acid selectivity. The effect of reaction temperature, O 2 /toluene ratio, steam/toluene ratio and durability were also investigated in order to reveal the catalytic features of the modified catalyst systems.