Direct Catalytic Hydroxylation of Benzene to Phenol Catalyzed by FeCl3 Supported on Exfoliated Graphitic Carbon Nitride

Direct hydroxylation of benzene in the presence of H2O2 is a promising approach for the production of phenol. Most of transition-metal compound catalysts have high activity yet suffer from difficulty in catalyst recycling and product purification. In this work, graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) material was exfoliated, and then applied as a catalyst support to load FeCl3. The physical and chemical properties of the synthesized materials were characterized by N-2 adsorption-desorption, XRD, FT-IR, UV-Vis, XPS, and benzene-TPD. The results exhibited that the exfoliation improved the surface area and pore volume of g-C3N4, and FeCl3 was stably anchored on the surface of eg-C3N4. As a heterogeneous catalyst, FeCl3/eg-C3N4 showed good catalytic activity and selectivity in hydroxylation of benzene under H2O2 affording a maximum yield of phenol as 22% at 60 degrees C. [GRAPHICS] .