Direct Oxidation of Benzene to Phenol by Dioxygen over Nano-vanadium Oxide

Reducing regents, such as ascorbic acid, are needed for vanadium‐containing catalysts to catalyze the direct oxidation of benzene to phenol by dioxygen. Quadrivalent vanadium species, reduced from quinquevalent vanadium species, can activate dioxygen to produce active oxygen species, which is important for the reaction. The key step is to prepare more V⁴⁺‐containing catalysts. Here, VO_X‐C₁₆‐A was prepared in an acidic medium to produce more V⁴⁺ species. The results of XPS and XRD studies confirmed that the vanadium species in VO_X‐C₁₆‐A was mainly V⁴⁺ ions. The results of XRD and electron diffraction patterns revealed that VO_X‐C₁₆‐A consisted of tetragonal VO₂ and monoclinic VO₂. Morphology observations display that the VO_X‐C₁₆‐A is made of nanorod. Investigations into the performances of the catalysts showed that VO_X‐C₁₆‐A was reusable, producing a 1.9% conversion of benzene without reducing agent.