Self-condensation of cyclohexanone over ion exchange resin catalysts: Kinetics and selectivity aspects

Self-condensation of cyclohexanone yields an isomeric mixture of compounds, which has important industrial applications. In this work, the intrinsic kinetics for this reaction was generated in a stirred batch reactor at atmospheric pressure over the temperature range of 353-373 K. The effect of various parameters such as temperature and catalyst loading was investigated, and also the reusability of the catalyst was studied. Further, the performance of various catalysts was evaluated. The presence of water as a reaction product inhibits the reaction rate, leading to lower conversion levels. The reaction was studied with special emphasis toward variation of selectivity with conversion. An activity-based kinetic model was developed for the reacting system, which represents the data quite well. Reactive distillation can be advantageously used to enhance the selectivity toward the desired product