Patent ID: 8658839

Claim:
A process for oxidizing a hydrocarbon to a corresponding hydroperoxide, alcohol, ketone, carboxylic acid or dicarboxylic acid, the process comprising: (a) contacting a hydrocarbon with an oxygen-containing gas in the presence of a catalyst comprising a cyclic imide of the general formula (I): wherein each of R 1 and R 2 is independently selected from hydrocarbyl and substituted hydrocarbyl radicals having 1 to 20 carbon atoms, or from the groups SO 3 H, NH 2 , OH and NO 2 , or from the atoms H, F, Cl, Br and I, provided that R 1 and R 2 can be linked to one another via a covalent bond; each of Q 1 and Q 2 is independently selected from C, CH, N and CR 3 ; each of X and Z is independently selected from C, S, CH 2 , N, P and elements of Group 4 of the Periodic Table; Y is O or OH; k is 0, 1, or 2; l is 0, 1, or 2; m is 1 to 3; and R 3 can be any of the entities listed for R 1 ; and wherein said contacting produces an effluent comprising an oxidized hydrocarbon product and unreacted imide catalyst of said formula (I); and (b) treating the effluent with a solid sorbent selected from a metal carbonate, a hydrogen carbonate, a basic clay, a metal oxide having a molar ratio of chemisorption of CO 2 per gram of metal oxide to the chemisorption of NH 3 per gram of metal oxide greater than 0.5, an ion exchange resin for removing acidic species, and mixtures of any two or more thereof, to remove at least part of said unreacted imide catalyst of said formula (I) from said effluent and produce a treated effluent comprising said oxidized hydrocarbon product having a reduced concentration of unreacted imide catalyst compared to the effluent before treatment.