Hydration of cyclohexene with solid acid catalysts

The hydration of cyclohexene has been studied in the presence of solid acid catalysts such as ion exchange resins and various zeolites. The zeolite ZSM-5 with SiO 2/Al 2O 3 in the range 30–50 was found to offer the best performance with more than 99% selectivity towards cyclohexanol. The reaction takes place in a solid–liquid–liquid mode and most of the cyclohexanol is extracted out by the organic phase during the course of the reaction. The data on liquid–liquid distribution of cyclohexanol is generated and a simple first order kinetic model based on aqueous phase concentrations has been proposed to explain the observed results on the reaction kinetics.