Synthesis of binuclear metal phthalocyanine and its catalytic performance in the oxidative desulfurization of dibenzothiophene

Binuclear cobalt phthalocyanine was synthesized by microwave method and characterized by infrared spectroscopy, UV-visible spectroscopy and thermogravimetry; its catalytic performance in the oxidative desulfurization of dibenzothiophene (DBT) was investigated. The results showed that the binuclear cobalt phthalocyanine exhibits the highest activity among five catalysts; over it, with the catalyst amount of 0.01 g(cat)/5 mL and air flow rate of 80 mL/min, the sulfur removal rate reaches 97.17% after reaction at 40 ℃ for 1 h. The product of DBT oxidation is DBTO₂, as verified by the FT-IR and mass spectrometry. The catalytic performance in the oxidation of aromatics and olefins was also investigated, which illustrates that current process using binuclear cobalt phthalocyanine as the catalyst has little influence on the quality of the oil product. Moreover, the catalyst can be reused for 5 times without significant decrease of its oxidation activity.