Liquid phase Benzylation of AromaticCompoundsusing Heterogeneous Ferrite Catalysis

Abstract

In this research five ferrites catalysts ;( MFe2O4 where M represent Fe2+ , Zn2+ , Ni2+ , Cd2+ , and V2+ ) , were Prepared by co-precipitation method in which one or more metals are precipitated together with the support. The synthesized ferrites were purified by washing with BaCl2 solution till sulfate free. They were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) to showed a cubic spinel shape crystal structure .Their atomic absorption spectroscopic data (AAS) coincide with the optimum molar ratio of MFe2O4 by calculating the number of moles for any element, Ultra violet (UV) and Inductively coupled plasma – optical emission spectrometry (ICP) were also used to character obtained of ferrites .The prepared ferrites were used as catalyst for benzylation reaction of chlorobenzene and p-xylene using benzyl chloride. The course of reactions were follow up using gas chromatographic technique .The results showed high activity of ferrite to catalyze benzylation reaction between benzyl chloride (chlorobenzene and p-xylene) .These reactions were studied at different conditions , such as temperature(60ᵒC, 70ᵒC, 80ᵒC, 90ᵒC and 100ᵒC), the results showed that molar ratio were : ( 1:5 , 1:10 , 1:15 and 1:20 ) ,weight of catalyst : (0.05 ,0,07 ,0,1 and 0,15 g ) , type of catalyst : ( Fe-Fer , Zn-Fer , Ni-Fer ,Cd- Fer and V -Fer ) and reaction time ( 0 to 15 min ). The optimum conditions for benzylation were : For p-xylene (70 ᵒC, 1:15 , 0.1 g weight of Fe –Fer catalyst and type) , for Chlorobenzene ( 80 ᵒC,1:15 ,0,1 g weight of catalyst and Fe-Fer type of catalyst ).The results showed reusability and leaching tests for the catalysts .The reaction products were monitored by gas chromatographic separation with aflame ionization detector , the represent increased catalytic activity in p-xylene and chlorobenzene respectively. It can be concluded ferrites catalytic are good catalyst for benzylation of aromatic compounds.