Flexible oxidation of styrene using TBHP over zirconia supported mono-copper substituted phosphotungstate.

A heterogeneous catalyst comprising mono-copper substituted phosphotungstate and hydrous zirconia was synthesized using wet impregnation method, characterized by various physico-chemical techniques and evaluated for solvent-free oxidation of styrene using TBHP as oxidant. Various reaction parameters like time, catalyst amount, amount of TBHP and temperature were optimized with focus on optimum selectivity of styrene-oxide. Further, the catalytic activity was compared with that of unfunctionalized PW 11 Cu to understand the role of the support. Finally, the role of each component of the reaction was clearly elucidated by a detailed kinetic study of the reaction using both the catalysts.