Abstract:
N,N’-Bis(salicylidene)ethylenediiminocobalt (Cosalen) was encapsulated into the supercage of microporous NaY zeolite via “ship-in-a-bottle” technique, which was compared with the impregnated Cosalen complex immobilized on the outer surface of the zeolite to prove the encapsulation. The samples were characterized by AAS, FT-IR, UV-Vis, XRD, TG-DTA and SEM techniques. The oxidation of cyclohexane with oxygen was chosen to evaluate the catalytic performance of the encapsulated complex. The effects of catalyst usage, solvent and initial oxygen pressure on the oxidation reaction were investigated. The encapsulated complex Cosalen/Y(SB) exhibited high catalytic activity for cyclohexane oxidation and high selectivity to cyclohexanol, cyclohexanone and adipic acid in the CH3CN solution without adding any inducing agents, which suggested that the catalyst is potential for the oxidization of cyclohexane into adipic acid. Moreover, the catalyst exhibited excellent stability and could be reused without obvious loss of the active components.