Epoxidation of methyl oleate over various amorphous Ti–SiO2 catalysts

Abstract The epoxidation reaction of the vegetable oil derivative methyl oleate with tert-butyl hydroperoxide in the presence of amorphous Ti–SiO 2 catalysts prepared by different methods using various silica sources was carried out. The reaction conditions were optimized. The relation between the properties of the catalysts such as specific surface area as well as titanium dispersion and the catalytic performance was in focus of the investigation. Based on the catalytic results in small batch reactors, the reaction was scaled up in a larger 4 L batch-reactor. Thereby similar conversions and selectivities were obtained in comparison with the small scale experiments.