Mechanism and Kinetics of Selective Aerobic Oxidation of n-Butane to Methyl Ethyl Ketone Catalyzed by Cu(HPTB)/NHPI

The aerobic oxidation from n-butane to methyl ethyl ketone by a biomimetic cocatalytic system was achieved in a batch reactor. The rational mechanism and intrinsic kinetic equation of selective n-butane oxidation with Cu(HPTB) and N-hydroxyphthalimide were proposed on the basis of control experiments, electron paramagnetic resonance, and electrospray ionization high-resolution mass spectroscopy. The kinetic studies with the initial concentration method further showed that the oxidations followed second-order kinetics, which was only related to the concentrations of n-butane. The oxidation process within a certain range of n-butane concentration was enabled to be predictable by the carefully derived mathematical model, which may shed light on the following process optimizations and reactor designs for high-value-added utilizations of n-butane resources.