Improved Activation of Titanium Dioxide Catalyst for Isomerization of Alpha Pinene and Understanding into Effect of Isomerization Parameters

A series of acid-activated catalyst were prepared by activating TiO2 using different acids, and subsequent catalytic performance was evaluated for isomerization of alpha pinene. The prepared catalysts were also characterized using SEM, XRD, FTIR, TPD and BET methods to understand the effect of type of acid on the catalyst characteristics. It was demonstrated that catalyst surface area and total acidity increased with acid activation of the raw TiO2 catalyst. The influence of type of acid used for activation, operating temperature, catalyst amount and reaction time on the conversion of alpha pinene and selectivity of products was examined, also presenting kinetic and thermodynamic analysis. At optimized conditions, complete conversion of alpha pinene was observed with the higher selectivity towards products as camphene, carene and tricyclene, with higher commercial importance. The current work clearly demonstrated that activated catalyst gives highest conversion of alpha pinene and selectivity for bicyclic monoterpenes.