TRANSITION METAL-CONTAINING CATALYSTS AND CATALYST COMBINATIONS INCLUDING TRANSITION METAL-CONTAINING CATALYSTS AND PROCESSES FOR THEIR PREPARATION AND USE AS OXIDATION CATALYSTS

摘要

A process for oxidizing N-(phosphonomethyl)iminodiacetic acid or a salt thereof, theprocess comprising contacting N-(phosphonomethyl)iminodiacetic acid or a salt thereof withan oxidant in the presence of a transition metalcontaining oxidation catalyst, wherein the catalystcomprises a carbon support having formed thereon atransition metal composition comprising cobalt (Co) andnitrogen, wherein: the transition metal compositioncomprises a cobalt nitride, a cobalt carbide-nitride, or acombination thereof, cobalt constitutes between 2% and 5%by weight of the catalyst, and the catalyst ischaracterized as generating ions corresponding to theformula CoN x C y+ when the catalyst is analyzed by Time-of-FlightSecondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (ToF SIMS) asdescribed in Protocol A; the weighted molar average valueof x being from about 0.5 to about 2.10 and the weightedmolar average value of y being from about 0.5 to about 8.