Hydrogen peroxide oxidizes n-hexane, n-heptane, and n-octane at 50°C in the presence titanium silicalite TS-1 as a catalyst, forming isomeric mixtures of ketones and alcohols.
Admixtures of organic acids, alcohols, benzene, and ethylbenzene sharply change the ratio of position isomers. For example,
the normalized ratio is C(4): C(3): C(2) = 0.44: 1.0: 0.47 for n-heptane oxidation in the absence of additives, but it becomes 0.52: 1.0: 1.00 in the presence of benzyl alcohol and the addition
of ethylbenzene changes it to 0.16: 1.0: 0.94.
Original Russian Text © G.B. Shul’pin, T. Sooknoi, L.S. Shul’pina, 2008, published in Neftekhimiya, 2008, Vol. 48, No. 1,
pp. 37–39.