Enhanced catalytic oxidation of anthracene by deposition of MoO3 and WO3 nanoparticles on MCM-41

A series of MoW-doped MCM-41 catalysts were prepared for the selective oxidation of anthracene to high value-added anthraquinone. Although anthraquinone production has been progressively industrialized, the anthracene oxidation still faces the problems of poor solubility of reactants and low anthracene conversion, particularly when employing supported catalysts in solution media. We herein reported a challenging but crucial method for anthraquinone production by using anthracene, H2O2 and Mo1W2-MCM-41 catalyst in HOAc under mild reaction conditions. In addition, experimental and theoretical results revealed that the synergistic effect between Mo, W and MCM-41 species contributes to an enchanced cataltic activity with conversion up to 97.6 %. The highly active H2O2-MCM-41 catalyst can be used for several cycles without obvious activity loss and serve as a promising candidate for anthraquinone as well as its derivatives production, making it a good alternative for various oxidation reactions.