Selective allylic oxidation of cyclohexene over a novel nanostructured CeO2–Sm2O3/SiO2 catalyst

Selective allylic oxidation of cyclohexene was investigated over nanostructured CeO2/SiO2 and CeO2–Sm2O3/SiO2 catalysts synthesized by a feasible deposition precipitation method. The CeO2–Sm2O3/SiO2 catalyst showed excellent catalytic efficiency with ~89 % cyclohexene conversion and ~90 % selectivity for allylic products (i.e., 2-cyclohexen-1-ol and 2-cyclohexene-1-one), while only ~50 and ~35 % cyclohexene conversion was observed, respectively, over CeO2/SiO2 and CeO2 catalysts. Systematic characterization of the designed catalysts was undertaken to correlate their catalytic activity with the physicochemical properties using X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) surface area measurements, Raman spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and NH3-temperature programmed desorption (TPD) techniques. The results revealed that doping of Sm3+ into the ceria lattice and simultaneous dispersion of resultant Ce–Sm mixed oxides on the silica surface led to improved structural, acidic, and catalytic properties. The better catalytic efficiency of CeO2–Sm2O3/SiO2 was due to high specific surface area, more structural defects, and high concentration of strong acid sites, stimulated by synergistic interaction between various oxides in the catalyst. The cyclohexene conversion and selectivity for allylic products depended on the reaction temperature, nature of solvent, molar ratio of cyclohexene to oxidant, and reaction time. Possible reaction pathways are proposed for selective allylic oxidation of cyclohexene towards 2-cyclohexen-1-ol and 2-cyclohexene-1-one products. SiO2-supported CeO2–Sm2O3 nanocatalyst exhibited outstanding catalytic performance with superior selectivity for allylic products in liquid-phase selective oxidation of cyclohexene under mild reaction conditions.