Abstract: The epoxidation of allyl chloride to epichlorohydrin was investigated using a new reversibly supported catalyst, heteropolyphosphatotungstates/silanized silica gel, which was generated in situ in the epoxidation reaction. The effects of reaction time, Na2HPO4 amount, ratio of allyl chloride to H2O2, and particle size of silanized silica gel were examined at a reaction temperature of 65 ℃. The results showed that the epichlorohydrin yield of the initial epoxidation reaction reached 86.5% under the optimized reaction conditions. The catalyst could be reused three times without significant loss of catalytic activity.

Key words: heteropolyphosphatotungstate, reversibly supported catalyst, allyl chloride, epoxidation, epichlorohydrin