unsaturated aldehydes

Catalytic performance of Se-containing organic substances, namely methylseleninic acid, benzeneseleninic acid, phenylselenol and diphenyldiselenide, has been tested as potential catalysts for unsaturated aldehydes oxidation by hydrogen peroxide. All tested substances proved to be active in the acrolein oxidation reaction but showed different efficiency regarding used solvents and the products of reaction – acrylic acid or methyl acrylate. Optimal catalyst, reaction conditions and solvent for acrylic acid synthesis have been determined.

The paper is dedicated to studies of kinetic regularities of oxidation of unsaturated aldehydes by organic peracids. The routes of products formation were considered, kinetic model of the oxidation reaction was designed and reaction activation parameters were calculated based on experimental data. New data on reactivity of aldehydes with various structures in the reaction with peracids were obtained.