Mechanism of Phenol Hydroxylation with Hydrogen Peroxide Catalyzed by Iron Complex Oxide

Dihydroxybenzene are both very important chemical products. The oxidation of phenol to produce catechol and hydroquinone has been researched extensively since the 1970s. In this paper, the iron complex oxide was prepared by the air oxidation of aqueous suspension method and the catalytic activities were investigated in the hydroxylation of phenol with H₂O₂ to catechol and hydroquinone. The results showed that the catalyst had higher catalytic activities and the phenol conversion could reach 24% when the phenol/H₂O₂ (mole ratio) was 3 and the catechol/hydroquinone (mole ratio) 1.5 in products. Furthermore, the interaction of the catalyst with H₂O₂ had also been demonstrated by IR spectrometry. In the presence of H₂O₂ a band at 956 cm^-1 appeared and disappeared when the H₂O₂ is replaced by H20 or the catalyst was heated over 373 K, at which temperature decomposition of iron peroxide was very likely. The band at 956 cm^-1 was due to the formation of structure of iron peroxide species and the stretching vibration of surface 0-0 species. The results of IR studies suggested that the catalyst might be react with hydrogen peroxide to form iron peroxide, which decomposed to produce·OOH radical. In the presence of DMPO (5,5-dimethyl-1-pyrroline-N-oxide) the·OH radical was also successfully captured in the hydroxylation of phenol by H₂O₂ over iron complex oxide catalyst in the first time that has been confirmed by means of ESR spectrometry. The results of ESR suggested the process of hydroxylation of phenol with H₂O₂ was probably a radical process. A possible mechanism of the catalytic process was proposed.