Liquid-phase oxidation with hydrogen peroxide of benzyl alcohol and xylenes on Ca10(PO4)6(OH)2 – CaWO4

A W-containing apatite (W/HAp) catalyst was prepared following a hydrothermal synthesis route and served as a model catalyst. Crystallographic analysis indicated that the resulting material contained hydroxyapatite, Ca10−3xWx(PO4)6(OH)2, W-hydroxyapatite, calcium tungstate, CaWO4, and tricalcium phosphate, Ca3(PO4)2. The catalyst was investigated in liquid phase oxidation of benzyl alcohol and xylenes using hydrogen peroxide as an oxidant. For comparison, commercial calcium phosphate, hydroxyapatite and CaWO4 were tested in the same reaction. Calcium phosphate and hydroxyapatite appeared as inactive and decomposed hydrogen peroxide non-selectively. A moderate activity but low hydrogen peroxide efficiency was observed for the CaWO4 phase. In contrast, the W/HAp catalyst showed a reasonable activity and a better hydrogen peroxide efficiency in the oxidation of benzyl alcohol and xylenes. This new W/HAp catalyst showed, after six cycles, losses of the activity below 15% compared to the fresh catalyst with no effect on the selectivity. It is noteworthy that ICP-OES analyses showed no tungsten leaching that is the main advantage of this catalyst.