Aerobic oxidation of trimethylbenzenes catalyzed by N,N′,N″-trihydroxyisocyanuric acid (THICA) as a key catalyst

The oxidation of trimethylbenzenes was examined with air or O₂ using N,N′,N″-trihydroxyisocyanuric acid (THICA) as a key catalyst. Thus, 1,2,3-, 1,2,4-, and 1,3,5-trimethylbenzenes under air (20 atm) in the presence of THICA (5 mol %), Co(OAc)₂ (0.5 mol %), Mn(OAc)₂, and ZrO(OAc)₂ at 150 °C were oxidized to the corresponding benzenetricarboxylic acids in good yields (81-97%). In the aerobic oxidation of 1,2,4-trimethylbenzene by the THICA/Co(II)/Mn(II) system, remarkable acceleration was observed by adding a very small amount of ZrO(OAc)₂ to the reaction system to form 1,2,4-benzenetricarboxylic acid in excellent yield (97%). In contrast, no considerable addition effect was observed in the oxidation of 1,3,5-trimethylbenzene. This aerobic oxidation by the present catalytic system provides an economical and environmentally benign direct method to benzenetricarboxylic acids, which are very important polymer materials.