Activities of V-Ti-O Catalysts in the Ammoxidation of 3-Picoline

Ammoxidation of 3-picoline was studied on reduced V-Ti-O catalysts with V6O13 as the major vanadium oxide. The results showed that the initial activity as a function of the TiO2 content reached a maximum at 50–60 mole% TiO2. It is proposed that there is maximum contact between the vanadium and titanium phases at this composition, which results in a weakening of the (VO)3+ surface bond. The selectivity of formation of nicotinonitrile exhibited a maximum of 83% at 10 mole% TiO2 and minima of 73 and 75% at 0 and 30 mole% TiO2, respectively. At higher TiO2 concentrations the selectivity increased continuously to 83% at 90 mole% TiO2. The variation of the selectivity of formation of nicotinonitrile depends on the View the MathML source ratio in the TiO2 phase. It was also found that the conversion and yields varied with the reaction time, which could be explained by the fact that reduced vanadium oxides were oxidized to V2O5 during the ammoxidation process. This oxidation leads to the formation of active and highly selective boundary surfaces between the TiO2-promoted vanadium oxides V6O13 and V2O5.