CATION MODIFIED SILICATES FOR CATALYTIC PRODUCTION OF PHENOL FROM BENZENE

The current work was an attempt to produce phenol from benzene in a one step using Al and Fe modified Silicates. This chemistry would be commercial from industrial point of view with the obtained conversion of benzene to phenol in one step. The preparation of Al and Fe-Silicate have been carried out at 100 oC by the addition of Al and Fe sources to silicate solution and the obtained material were dried at 100 oC over night and calcined at 550 oC. The obtained materials were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Infra Red (IR) spectroscopy. The oxidative properties of obtained solids (Al and Fe-Silicates) have been tested in the catalytic oxidation of benzene to phenol at different temperatures. The wide structure characterization of Al and Fe modified Silicates was carried out to establish a correlation between the effects of the addition of the modified silicates on the oxidation of benzene and their structure properties. Best conversion of benzene to phenol was observed for Fe-Silicate sample. A possible explanation of Fe-Silicates activity might be related to the great surface area and acidic properties of this sample in addition to the ability of Fe (III) to be reduced to Fe (II) and vice-versa. The oxidation processes were followed up using HPLC and UV-Vis Spectrophotometer.