Efficient Liquid‐Phase Oxidation of Diphenylmethane to Benzophenone over Vanadium‐Containing MCM‐41 Catalysts

The liquid‐phase oxidation of diphenylmethane with tert‐butylhydroperoxide has been studied using vanadium‐containing MCM‐41 materials, which were prepared by direct hydrothermal (V‐MCM‐41) and wet impregnation (V/MCM‐41) methods. These catalysts were characterized in detail by ICP‐AES, N₂‐sorption, XRD, FT‐IR, ²⁹Si and ⁵¹V NMR, TPD of ammonia, TPR of hydrogen, and chemisorption of oxygen. Both series of catalyst show good catalytic results, which are attributed to their highly ordered mesoporous structure, large BET surface area as well as the presence of easily accessible vanadium‐oxygen species as active centers in the catalyst. Further, V‐MCM‐41 exhibit superior catalytic activity (based on turnover number) than V/MCM‐41 mainly due to well‐dispersed tetrahedral vanadium‐oxygen species with higher oxidation ability. The effect of reaction parameters, i.e., temperature, time, solvent, etc. were investigated. Catalyst recycling test reveals good stability with only slight extent of leaching during the reaction.