ISIS Neutron and Muon Source Data Journal

Investigating the diffusion of E-caprolactam in hierarchically-porous catalysts for the Beckmann rearrangement

Abstract: Caprolactam (CL) is a high-value chemical and precursor to nylon-6. Industrially, a harsh, liquid-acid catalyst effects the Beckmann rearrangement of C6-oxime to CL, but the risks and inefficiencies of this process make solid-acid catalysts desirable. Whilst silicoaluminophosphates (SAPOs) show potential, their micropores suffer mass transport limitations. Hierarchically-porous (HP) SAPOs contain an auxiliary mesoporous network that enhances active site accessibility, whilst retaining the selectivity of the microporous bulk. An earlier QENS study revealed the contrasting mobility of C6-oxime in HP and microporous SAPO-5, with substrate-framework interactions in HP SAPO-5 hindering motion at higher temperature. Since product desorption is a key mechanistic step that shows dependence on the nature and strength of the acid sites, we now propose to study the mobility of CL in these systems.

Principal Investigator: Professor Robert Raja
Experimenter: Dr Stephanie Richardson
Experimenter: Dr Ian Silverwood
Experimenter: Dr Alexander O'Malley

DOI: 10.5286/ISIS.E.RB1810009

ISIS Experiment Number: RB1810009

Publisher: STFC ISIS Neutron and Muon Source

Data format: RAW/Nexus
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Data Citation

The recommended format for citing this dataset in a research publication is as:
[author], [date], [title], [publisher], [doi]

For Example:
Professor Robert Raja et al; (2018): Investigating the diffusion of E-caprolactam in hierarchically-porous catalysts for the Beckmann rearrangement, STFC ISIS Neutron and Muon Source, https://doi.org/10.5286/ISIS.E.RB1810009

Data is released under the CC-BY-4.0 license.