The mechanism of ethylene epoxidation

M.O. Ozbek, R.A. Santen, van

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

152 Citations (Scopus)
4 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Today ethylene oxide can be produced industrially with ~90 % selectivity through the epoxidation of ethylene over silver catalyst. The past decades there has been a substantial increase in the understanding of the molecular chemistry that leads to high selectivity catalysis. Especially the discovery of an oxometallacycle intermediate that produces ethylene epoxide in competition with acetaldehyde can be considered a major advancement. The state of the surface at reaction conditions causes different reaction paths to compete. At high oxygen coverage also a direct epoxidation channel opens. We will also review recent progress on the understanding of promotion and coverage dependent reactivity. The contributions in our understanding of this reaction from computational catalysis will be emphasized.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)131-141
Number of pages11
JournalCatalysis Letters
Volume143
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2013

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'The mechanism of ethylene epoxidation'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this