Liquid-phase oxidation of hydrogen sulfide in presence of native and modified petroleum porphyrins

An important property of the porphyrin and phthalocyanine metal complexes is their ability to catalyze the oxidation of hydrogen sulfide by molecular oxygen in certain organic solvents. The highest reaction rate is observed in a dimethylformamide (DMFA) medium. To study the possible use of native and modified petroleum porphyrins for the catalysis of the oxidation reaction of H/sub 2/S in a DMFA medium, they compared the catalytic activities of vanadyl complexes of petroleum porphyrins, and the products of their transmetallation by cobalt and iron salts, and also the corresponding metal complexes of etioporphyrins and di- and tetrasulfophthalocyanines. Their investigations thus showed that the iron complex obtained from a concentrate of petroleum porphyrins can, in principle, be used as an effective catalyst of the liquid phase oxidation of hydrogen sulfide in a dimethylformamide medium.