A green mesostructured vanadosilicate catalyst and its unprecedented catalytic activity for the selective synthesis of 2,6-disubstituted p-benzoquinones

Abstract

We have developed a green method for the production of 2,6-disubstituted p-benzoquinones (DSBQs) by liquid-phase oxidations of di/tri-substituted phenols using two-dimensional hexagonally thick-walled mesoporous vanadosilicate catalysts. In particular, 2,6-di-tert-butyl-p-benzoquinone was synthesized by the oxidation of 2,6-di-tert-butylphenol, using various reaction parameters, over mesoporous VSBA-15 catalysts synthesized with various vanadium contents. A promising chemical treatment method for the preparation of green mesoporous VSBA-15(5) or W-VSBA-15(5) (W: washed) catalysts was successfully used in the presence of ammonium acetate solution to remove moderately toxic non-framework V2O5 crystallite species from the active surface, and the catalytic activity of the recovered green mesoporous VSBA-15(5) catalyst was determined. To confirm the green aspects, recyclability and hot-catalytic filtration experiments were performed. The combined results show that the green mesoporous VSBA-15(5) is a highly active, recyclable, and promising heterogeneous catalyst for the selective synthesis of DSBQs (98-100%), and has unprecedented catalytic activity compared with other mesoporous vanadosilicate catalysts. © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2014.