Highly Selective Formation of tert-Butyl Hydroperoxide from the Reaction of Isobutane and O2 in a Zeolite under Visible Light

✍ Scribed by Dr. Fritz Blatter; Dr. Hai Sun; Dr. Heinz Frei

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1996
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 503 KB
• Volume: 2
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0947-6539
• DOI: 10.1002/chem.19960020406

✦ Synopsis

Isobutane and oxygen gas loaded into zeolite BaY react upon irradiation with green or blue light to yield tert-butyl hydroperoxide in a single-photon process. This was discovered when monitoring the reaction at room temperature in situ by FT-infrared spectroscopy. Selectivity was 98%, even upon conversion of more than half of the reactants loaded into the zeolite. Diffuse reflectance spectra revealed a visible absorption tail which originates from an isobutane.0, collision complex. It is attributed to the isobutane .O, contact charge-transfer absorption, whose onset is shifted from the UV into the visible region by the high electrostatic field of the zeolite.