The Open Colloid Science Journal

2010, 3 : 15-24
Published online 2010 November . DOI: 10.2174/1876530001003010015
Publisher ID: TOCOLLSJ-3-15

Benzoylation of p-Xylene at the Solid-Liquid Interface on Iron Incorporated Silica

Farook Adam , Ishraga Abdelmoniem Hassan and Radhika Thankappan
School of Chemical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 Penang, Malaysia.

ABSTRACT

A series of iron incorporated silica catalysts were prepared using rice husk ash as a source of silica. The specific surface areas of the catalysts were found to be in the range of 200-400 m2 g-1. The activities of the catalysts were tested for liquid phase Friedel-Crafts acylation reaction of p-xylene with benzoyl chloride. The catalyst RHA-10Fe exhibited the highest activity for benzoylation of p-xylene. The conversion of benzoyl chloride (BzCl) and the selectivity towards 2,5-dimethylbenzophenone (2,5-DMBP) were found to be 98.4 and 88.9 (%) respectively at 413 K.

Keywords:

Rice husk silica, Friedel-Crafts acylation, benzoylation, p-xylene.