ABSTRACT
The heterogeneous catalytic synthesis of flavanone from benzaldehyde and 2hydroxyacetophenone over a solid magnesium oxide catalyst was studied in a batch slurry reactor system This synthesis involves a Claisen-Schmidt condensation reaction to form a 2 'hydroxychalcone intermediate, followed by the isomerization of this intermediate to form the flavanone product. The results indicate that the MgO catalyst is active for these reactions. Kinetic data were collected at different temperatures and rate constants were extracted for the two steps of the flavanone synthesis process. In addition, mass transfer effects were evaluated by varying the stirring rate, the catalyst particle size, and the catalyst weight percentage in the reactor.
