Abstract
A novel mesoporous Zn–Al-MCM-41 is found to be a highly active and recyclable heterogeneous catalyst suitable for the selective synthesis of TBC by
t-butylation of
p-cresol with butyl alcohol having much higher acidity and activity than other catalysts, such as Al-MCM-41(21), USY, Hβ, H-ZSM-5 and H-mordenite.
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A much green synthesis method is discovered for the synthesis of
t-butyl-
p-cresol (TBC), an important used as antioxidant in food industries and the basic raw material for the manufacture of oil-soluble phenol–formaldehyde resins. The TBC is synthesized with a conversion (93.2%) and selectivity (98.6%) through a heterogeneous
t-butylation of
p-cresol with
t-butyl alcohol (
t-BuOH) in the liquid phase over mild strong acid catalyst, Zn–Al-MCM-41(75). The catalytic results have also compared with those obtained using other Zn–Al-MCM-41, Al-MCM-41, HY, Hβ, H-mordenite and H-ZSM-5 zeolites. Based on the catalytic results, Zn–Al-MCM-41(75) is found to be a highly active and recyclable heterogeneous catalyst for selective synthesis of TBC.