Enabling tandem oxidation of benzene to benzenediol over integrated neighboring V-Cu oxides in mesoporous silica

The direct tandem oxidation synthesis of benzenediol from benzene could simplify or even avoid the separation and purification of reaction intermediates, which is promising but challenged because of the further required immediate consecutive activation of intermediate phenol. In this work, a synergistic benzene tandem-oxidation catalyst that V-Cu bimetallic oxides modified nanoporous silica(VCu-NS)was constructed via a facile assembly strategy which involves addictive negative anion citric acid mediating the intercalation of metal-citric acid chelate in mesopore of silica and subsequent thermal calcination inducing dual-metal active site formation. Such a tactic could make amorphous VOxspecies well covered on the surface of mesopore, and ultrafine copper oxide particles surrounded and neighbored by highly dispersed VOxwith strong interplay in mesopore, which was comprehensively confirmed by various characterizations. Benefiting from the unique V-Cu neighboring effect, the desorption of formed phenol over the catalytic site might be restricted therefore easily further activated by the formed reactive oxidative species, 3VCu-NS shows synergetic tandem-oxidation catalytic activities for benzene towards benzenediol with a selectivity of 57%. The result allows optimal 3VCu-NS to be a promising catalyst for benzenediol synthesis from benzene.

Understanding the interfacial behaviors of benzene alkylation with butene using chloroaluminate ionic liquid catalyst: A molecular dynamics simulation

To better understand the benzene alkylation with chloroaluminate ionic liquids(ILs) as catalyst, the interfacial properties between the benzene/butene binary reactants and chloroaluminate ILs with varying cation alkyl chain length and different anions were investigated using molecular dynamics(MD) simulations. The results indicate that ILs can obviously improve the interfacial width, solubility and diffusion of reactants compared to H_(2)SO_(4). The longer alkyl chains of cations present a density enrichment at the interface and protrude into the binary reactants phase. Furthermore, the ILs consisting of 1-octyl-3-methylimidazolium cations([Omim]^(+)) and the stronger acidity heptachlorodialuminate anions([Al_(2)Cl_(7)]^(-)) are more beneficial to promote the interfacial width and facilitate the dissolution and diffusion of benzene in both the IL bulk and the interfacial region in comparison to the ones with shorter alkyl chains cations and weaker acidity anions. The information gives us a better guideline for the design of ILs for benzene alkylation.

Highly selective ethylbenzene production through alkylation of dilute ethylene with gas phase-liquid phase benzene and transalkylation feed

A novel industrial process was designed for the highly selective production of ethylbenzene. It comprised of a reactor vessel, vapor phase ethylene feed stream, benzene and transalkylation feed stream. Especially the product stream containing ethylbenzene was used to heat the reactor vessel, which consisted of an alkylation section, an upper heat exchange section, and a bottom heat exchange section. In such a novel reactor, vapor phase benzene and liquid phase benzene were coexisted due to the heat produced by isothermal reaction between the upper heat exchange section and the bottom heat exchange section. The process was demonstrated by the thermodynamic analysis and experimental results. In fact, during the 1010 hour-life-test of gas phase ethene with gas phase-liquid phase benzene alkylation reaction, the ethene conversion was above 95%, and the ethylbenzene selectivity was above 83% （only benzene feed） and even higher than 99% （benzene plus transalkylation feed）. At the same time, the xylene content in the ethylbenzene was less than 100 ppm when the reaction was carried out under the reaction conditions of 140-185℃ of temperature, 1.6-2.1 MPa of pressure, 3.0-5.5 of benzene/ethylene mole ratio, 4-6 v% of transalkylation feed/（benzene＋transalkylation feed）, 0.19-0.27 h^-1 of ethene space velocity, and 1000 g of 3998 catalyst loaded. Thus, compared with the conventional ethylbenzene synthesis route, the transalkylation reactor could be omitted in this novel industrial process.

A Durable Catalyst for Vapor Phase Nitration of Benzene with Nitric Acid

Experimental results in this work demonstrate that PW12-H2SO4/SiO2 catalyst is a good and durable catalyst for vapor phase nitration of benzene to nitrobenzene (NB) using 65% nitric acid at normal pressure. It retains the advantages of using H2SO4 as catalyst and the addition of phosphotungstic acid holds back the effusion of sulfuric acid. This new catalyst keeps high activity (the conversion of HNO3 is more than 92%), high selectivity of NB (more than 97%) and high space time yield (STY 1.5 kg NB/kg cat.h) even after 150 h on stream, under condition of 423 K, SV=3200 ml/g h.

Catalytic Synthesis of Isopropyl Benzene over SO_4 ^(2-)/ZrO_ 2-MCM-41

Super acid catalyst SO4^2-/ZrO2 was introduced into pure silicone MCM-41 via the impregnation method and the catalyst samples obtained at different temperatures were characterized by means of XRD, IR, and Py-IR techniques. The selectively catalytic gas-phase flow reactions of benzene with propene over the catalyst samples were carried out in a made-to-measure high-pressure flow reactor equipped with a thermostat and a condenser. Effect of the preparative condition on the catalytic synthesis of isopropyl benzene over the catalyst samples was tested. The results show that SO4^2-/ZrO2-MCM-41 （ SZM-41 ） can be used as a catalyst for the title reaction, in which there are a higher conversion （97%） for the propene and a higher selectivity（93% ） for the isopropyl benzene.

Ionizations and fragmentations of benzene, methylbenzene, and chlorobenzene in strong IR and UV laser fields

Ionizations and fragmentations of benzene, methylbenzene, and chlorobenzene are studied in linearly polarized 50-fs, 800-nm and 400-nm strong laser fields using a time-of-flight mass spectrometer. It is shown that at low laser intensity, the parent ions are dominant for any one of the molecules in an 800-nm strong laser field, while extensive fragmentation is observed in a 400-nm laser field, which can be understood by the resonant photon absorption of molecular cations. The ratio of the yield of the parent ion to the yield of the total ion for each molecule is measured as a function of laser intensity in a range from 1.0 × 1013 W/cm2 to 4.0 × 1014 W/cm2, in either the 800-nm or 400-nm laser field. The results show that the fragmentation of the aromatic molecules increases significantly as the laser intensity is increased. Possible mechanisms for fragmentation in strong laser fields are discussed. Finally, the saturation intensity of ionization of the titled molecules is also determined.

Conversion of Benzene in the Catalytic Cracking Process

The catalytic cracking of 1-hexene,1-heptene,1-octene,1-nonene,1-decene,and five olefins mixed with benzene,over USY catalysts was conducted in a small fixed fluidized bed reactor to study the conversion of benzene under catalytic cracking conditions.Benzene mainly alkylated with C_(2)-C_(5)light olefins,generating monosubstituted alkylbenzenes,and the concentration of light olefins dramatically affected the alkylbenzene yield.Due to the limitation of thermodynamic equilibrium,the yield of benzene alkylation to alkylbenzene in catalytic cracking was in a relative low level.The equilibrium constant of benzene alkylation decreases with the increasing reaction temperature which resulted in reduction of alkyl benzene yield.

Benzene alkylation with methanol over phosphate modified hierarchical porous ZSM-5 with tailored acidity

The acidity and acid distribution of hierarchical porous ZSM-5 were tailored via phosphate modification. The catalytic results showed that both benzene conversion and selectivity of toluene and xylene increased with the presence of appropriate amount of phosphorus. Meanwhile, side reactions such as methanol to olefins related with the formation of by-product ethylbenzene formation and isomerization of xylene to meta-xylene were suppressed efficiently. The acid strength and sites amount of Br?nsted acid of the catalyst were crucial for improving benzene conversion and yield of xylene, whereas passivation of external surface acid sites played an important role in breaking thermodynamic equilibrium distribution of xylene isomers.

Anaerobic biodegradation of benzene series compounds by mixed cultures based on optional electronic acceptors

A series of batch experiments were performed using mixed bacterial consortia to investigate biodegradation performance of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and three xylene isomers （BTEX） under nitrate, sulfate and ferric iron reducing conditions. The results showed that toluene, ethylbenzene, m-xylene and o-xylene could be degraded independently by the mixed cultures coupled to nitrate, sulfate and ferric iron reduction. Under ferric iron reducing conditions the biodegradation of benzene and p-xylene could be occurred only in the presence of other alkylbenzenes. Alkylbenzenes can serve as the primary subs＇rates to stimulate the transformation of benzene and p-xylene under anaerobic conditions. Benzene and p-xylene are more toxic than toluene and ethylbenzene, under the three terminal electron acceptors conditions, the degradation rates decreased with toluene 〉 ethylbenzene 〉 m-xylene 〉 o-xylene〉 benzene 〉 p- xylene. Nitrate was a more favorable electron acceptor compared to sulfate and ferric iron. The ratio between sulfate consumed and the loss of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, o-xylene, m-xylene, p-xylene was 4.44, 4.51, 4.42, 4.32, 4.37 and 4.23, respectively; the ratio between nitrate consumed and the loss of these substrates was 7.53, 6.24, 6.49, 7.28, 7.81, 7.61, respectively; the ratio between the consumption of ferric iron and the loss of toluene, ethylbenzene, o-xylene, m-xylene was 17.99, 18.04, 18.07, 17.97, respectively.

Effect of Lanthanum on Performance of RuB Amorphous Alloy Catalyst for Benzene Selective Hydrogenation

The effect of La on the performance of a supported RuB amorphous alloy catalyst for benzene selective hydrogenation was studied by means of activity and selectivity tests, such as HRTEM, SAED, XPS, and XRD. The results show that the addition of La to RuB amorphous alloy catalyst can evidently increase the activity and improve the thermal stability of RuB amorphous alloy to refrain its crystallization. The promoting effect of La on the activity of RuB amorphous alloy catalyst is because of the high dispersion of the active components.

Study of Humidity Effect on Benzene Decomposition by the Dielectric Barrier Discharge Nonthermal Plasma Reactor

The humidity effects on the benzene decomposition process were investigated by the dielectric barrier discharge（DBD） plasma reactor.The results showed that the water vapor played an important role in the benzene oxidation process.It was found that there was an optimum humidity value for the benzene removal efficiency,and at around 60% relative humidity（RH）,the optimum benzene removal efficiency was achieved.At a SIE of 378 J/L,the removal efficiency was 66% at 0% RH,while the removal efficiency reached 75.3% at 60% RH and dropped to 69% at 80% RH.Furthermore,the addition of water inhibited the formation of ozone and NO2 remarkably.Both of the concentrations of ozone and NO2 decreased with increasing of the RH at the same specific input energy.At a SIE of 256 J/L,the concentrations of ozone and NO2 were 5.4 mg/L and 1791 ppm under dry conditions,whereas they were only 3.4 mg/L and 1119 ppm at 63.5%RH,respectively.Finally,the outlet gas after benzene degradation was qualitatively analyzed by FT-IR and GC-MS to determine possible intermediate byproducts.The results suggested that the byproducts in decomposition of benzene primarily consisted of phenol and substitutions of phenol.Based on these byproducts a benzene degradation mechanism was proposed.

Deactivation mechanism of beta-zeolite catalyst for synthesis of cumene by benzene alkylation with isopropanol

The alkylation of benzene with isopropanol over beta-zeolite is a more cost-effective solution to cumene production. During the benzene alkylation cycles, the cumene selectivity slowly increased, while the benzene conversion presented the sharp decrease due to catalyst deactivation. The deactivation mechanism of betazeolite catalyst was investigated by characterizing the fresh and used catalysts. The XRD, SEM and TEM results show that the crystalline and particle size of the beta-zeolite catalyst almost remained stable during the alkylation cycles. The drop in catalytic activity and benzene conversion could be explained by the TG, BET,NH_3-TPD and GC–MS results. The organic matters mainly consisted of ethylbenzene, p-xylene and 1-ethyl-3-(1-methyl) benzene produced in the benzene alkylation deposited in the catalyst, which strongly reduced the specific surface area of beta-zeolite catalyst. Moreover, during the reaction cycles, the amount of acidity also significantly decreased. As a result, the catalyst deactivation occurred. To maintain the catalytic performance,the catalyst regeneration was carried out by using ethanol rinse and calcination. The deactivated catalyst could be effectively regenerated by the calcination method and the good catalytic performance was obtained.

Alkylation Activity of Benzene with Syngas over Cu-based Catalysts

A series of Cu-based catalysts were developed for alkylation of benzene with syngas. The catalyst samples were prepared by the impregnation method, and were characterized by XRD, XRF, NH3-TPD, and TEM and evaluated in a fixed bed reactor. The optimized reaction temperature of Cu/Al2O3/ZSM-5 catalyst was 350 ℃, while higher contents of copper were conducive to alkylation of benzene with syngas. The new medium strength acid centers in the catalyst created by Cu were beneficial to alkylation. Hydrogenation reaction of CO was executed on the metal centers without dissociation, Dimethyl ether(DME) was the major intermediate over Cu-based catalysts. Higher selectivity of methylation and lower selectivity of heavy aromatics were confirmed after the second metal(Zn, Mn, or V) was added to the copper catalyst. Cu was partly covered by Zn in the Cu-Zn/Al2O3/ZSM-5 catalyst leading to low dispersion and low activity of copper. Cu-Mn/Al2O3/ZSM-5 catalyst possessed the best yield of methylation product. Cu-Mn composite oxides were probably formed in fresh catalyst, which blocked the sintering of Cu in the reaction process. The loading of Cu decreased dramatically after the introduction of V, while causing an increase of the amount of medium strength acid centers at the same time. V prevented the sintering of copper particles during the reducing process and had a promoting effect on the activity of Cu.

Preparation and characterization of vanadium(IV) oxide supported on SBA-15 and its catalytic performance in benzene hydroxylation to phenol using molecular oxygen

Preparation of dispersed transition metal oxides catalyst with low oxidation state still remains a challenging task in heterogeneous catalysis.In this study,vanadium oxides supported on zeolite SBA-15 have been prepared under hydrothermal condition using V 2 O 5 and oxalic acid as sources of vanadium and reductant,respectively.The structures of samples,especially the oxidation state of vanadium,and the surface distribution of vanadium oxide species,have been thoroughly characterized using various techniques,including N 2-physisorption,X-ray diffraction（XRD）,transmission electron microscopy（TEM）,X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy（XPS）,UV-visible spectra（UV-Vis） and UV-visible-near infrared spectra（UV-Vis-NIR）.It is found that the majority of supported vanadium was in the form of vanadium（IV） oxide species with the low valence of vanadium.By adjusting hydrothermal treatment time,the surface distribution of vanadium（IV） oxide species can be tuned from vanadium（IV） oxide cluster to crystallites.These materials have been tested in the hydroxylation of benzene to phenol in liquid-phase with molecular oxygen in the absence of reductant.The catalyst exhibits high selectivity for phenol（61%） at benzene conversion of 4.6%,which is a relatively good result in comparison with other studies employing molecular oxygen as the oxidant.

Studies on the Mechanism of the Direct Synthesis of Styrene form Benzene and Ethylene

The adsorption behavior and description behavior of benzene , ethylene and ethylbenzene over HZSM-5 and Co/HZSM-5 catalysts were studied by means of TPSR (Temperature programmed surface reaction) technique. TPSR results of ben- zene and ethylene co-adsorption show that the maian products are styrene , ethylben- zene, toluene, propane, and butane. In a separate experiment of ethylbenzene ad- sorption, styrene . toluene and benzene are formed due to cracking and dehydro- genation. The mechanism of styrene formation was proposed , i. e. , the reaction was carried out via. the dehydrogenation of mediate species ethylbenzene according to the results of TPSR-MS , activity testing and thermodynamic analysis.

Selective hydrogenation of benzene to cyclohexene on Ru-based catalysts promoted with Mn and Zn

Ru-based catalysts promoted with Mn and Zn were prepared by a co-precipitation method. In liquid-phase hydrogenation of benzene, the Ru-Mn-Zn catalysts exhibited superior catalytic performance to the catalysts promoted with Zn or Mn alone. The optimum Mn/Zn molar ratio was determined to be 0.3. With the addition of 0.5 g NaOH, the Ru-Mn-Zn-0.3 catalyst, which was reduced at 150 ？ C, afforded a cyclohexene selectivity of 81.1% at a benzene conversion of 60.2% at 5 min and a maximum cyclohexene yield of 59.9% at 20 min. Based on characterizations, the excellent performance of Ru-Mn-Zn catalyst was ascribed to the suitable pore structure, the appropriate reducibility and the homogenous chemical environment of the catalyst.

Synthesis and Crystal Structure of 1,2Bis（2-benzimidazolyl） benzene

The title compound C6H4(C7H5N2)2 was prepared by the condensation of o-phenyl- enediamine with o-phthalic acid and characterized by elemental analysis, IR, UV and H NMR 1 spectra, and its structure was determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The crystal belongs to orthorhombic system, space group Pbcn with a = 17.928(8), b = 8.828(4), c = 9.752(4)?, Z = 4, V = 1543.4(12) ?3, Dc = 1.336 g/cm3, Mr = 310.35, λ(MoKα) = 0.71073 ?, μ = 0.082 mm-1, F(000) = 648, R = 0.0405 and wR = 0.1092. A total of 1693 unique reflections were collected, of which 1319 with I > 2σ(I) were observed. It is shown that the compound molecule belongs to C2 point group. A one-dimensional chain structure was formed by the intermolecular hydrogen bonds (N(2)–H… N(1)).

Selective hydrogenation of benzene to cyclohexene over Ce-promoted Ru catalysts

Ru-Ce catalysts were prepared by a co-precipitation method.The effects of Ce precursors with different valences and Ce contents on the catalytic performance of Ru-Ce catalysts were investigated in the presence of ZnSO4.The Ce species in the catalysts prepared with different valences of the Ce precursors all exist as CeO2 on the Ru surface.The promoter CeO2alone could not improve the selectivity to cyclohexene of Ru catalysts.However,almost all the CeO2 in the catalysts could react with the reaction modifier ZnSO4 to form(Zn(OH)2)3(ZnSO4)(H2O)3 salt.The amount of the chemisorbed salt increased with the CeO2 loading,resulting in the decrease of the activity and the increase of the selectivity to cyclohexene of Ru catalyst.The Ru-Ce catalyst with the optimum Ce/Ru molar ratio of 0.19 gave a maximum cyclohexene yield of 57.4%.Moreover,this catalyst had good stability and excellent reusability.

Effect of the benzene ring of the dispersant on the rheological characteristics of coal-water slurry:Experiments and theoretical calculations

In this study,low-rank coal-water slurry(LCWS)was prepared using polyoxyethylene dodecylphenol ether(PDPE)and polyoxyethylene lauryl ether(PLE),respectively.A combination of experiments and simulations was used to investigate the pulping properties and microscopic mechanism of the LCWS samples prepared using the two agents,so as to explore the influence of benzene ring on the performance of dispersant.The results of the LCWS preparation experiments revealed that the pulp-forming performance of PDPE exceeded that of PLE.When LCWS concentration is 62%,64%,and 66%,the apparent viscosity corresponding to PDPE is 247.80,504.17,and 653.10 mPa·s,and the apparent viscosity corresponding to PLE is 548.10,1470.61,and 1549.98 mPa·s,respectively.The C_(1000)(When the apparent viscosity is 1000 mPa·s,the corresponding concentration of LCWS is defined as C_(1000))values of PDPE and PLE are 67.60%and 62.95%,respectively.In addition to the van der Waals forces and hydrogen bonds between the PDPE and/or PLE molecules and coal,the benzene rings of PDPE presentπ-πstacking effect with the aromatic rings of coal.That could facilitate and strengthen the adsorption of PDPE on coal,which would be conducive to further improving the dispersion of coal particles.The two dispersants have no significant difference in effect on the pyrolysis of LCWS.The simulation results indicated that the times for PDPE and PLE molecules to reach flat adsorption state on coal are approximately 290 and 565 ps,respectively.The self-diffusion coefficient(D)of the PDPE and PLE on coal is 3.16 x 10^(-6)and6.57×10^(-6)m~2/s,respectively,and their interaction energies with coal are 785.71 and 648.60 kcal/mol,respectively.The results of the simulation calculations demonstrated that PDPE adsorbed on coal easier than PLE,and its binding is more stable than that of PLE owing to theπ-πstacking effect,which is conducive to uniform dispersion of coal in solution.The simulation results confirmed the experimental results.

Degradation of Benzene by Using a Silent-Packed Bed Hybrid Discharge Plasma Reactor

In this work, a novel gas phase silent-packed bed hybrid discharge plasma reactor has been proposed, and its ability to control a simulative gas stream containing 240 ppm benzene is experimentally investigated. In order to optimize the geometry of the reactor, the benzene conversion rate and energy yield （EY） were compared for various inner electrode diameters and quartz tube shapes and sizes. In addition, benzene removal efficiency in different discharge regions was qualitatively analyzed and the gas parameter （space velocity） was systematically studied. It has been found that silent-packed bed hybrid discharge plasma reactor can effectively decompose benzene. Benzene removal proved to achieve an optimum value of 60% with a characteristic energy density of 255 J/L in this paper with a 6 mm bolt high-voltage electrode and a 13 mm quartz tube. The optimal space velocity was 188.1 h^-1, which resulted in moderate energy yield and removal efficiency. Reaction by-products such as hydroquinone, heptanoic acid, 4-nitrocatechol, phenol and 4-phenoxy-phenol were identified by mean of GC-MS. In addition, based on these organic by-products, a benzene destruction pathway was proposed.