Discovery and Optimization of New Heterogeneous Catalysts for the Direct Production of Propylene Oxide (PO) from Propylene and Oxygen Using Combinatorial Methods

72945S03-I Propylene oxide (PO) is one of the most important intermediates in the petrochemical industry. Over ten billion pounds of PO are produced annually, representing $6 billion/year. At present, two major energy-intensive industrial processes are used for the synthesis of PO ¿ the chlorohydrin and peroxide processes. The development of new and highly efficient catalysts for the direct production of PO from readily available feedstocks, such as propylene and oxygen (air), could greatly reduce the energy requirements. This project will exploit combinatorial heterogeneous catalysis tools to develop highly active, selective, and durable heterogeneous catalysts for the direct conversion of propylene into propylene oxide (PO) using molecular oxygen (air). Phase I will prepare and screen a large diversity of metals, their combinations, and metal oxide supports to identify new catalysts for direct PO production. In particular, solid-state libraries of single and binary combinations of elements from the periodic table will be systematically generated on a variety of metal oxide substrates. A high-throughput screening of these catalytic libraries will be conducted under simulated production conditions. Phase II will involve the larger-volume production of catalysts and their testing. Commercial Applications and Other Benefits as described by awardee: A durable PO catalyst technology should become an important contributor to the multibillion dollar market of the petrochemicals industry.