A new quaternary ammonium heteropolyoxotungstate catalyst for propylene epoxidation to propylene oxide

A new quaternary ammonium heteropolyoxotungstant (cat.C) is prepared and characterized. And the cat.C also is an reaction-controlled phase-transfer catalyst. The catalytic system of O-2/EAHQ (2-ethylanthrahydroquinone)/cat.c is used for the epoxidation of propylene. Under the optimal conditions, the yield of propylene oxide based on EAHQ is 84.1%, the selectivity for propylene oxide based on propylene is 99.8% and the conversion of propylene based on EAHQ is 84.3%. The cat.c precipitates after the epoxidation reaction for easy separation. The cat. C is stable enough to be recycled three times without any loss in selectivity.