ALKYLATION OF PHENOL WITH METHANOL BY USING ZEOLITE CATALYSTS

Abstract

Alkylation of phenol with methanol using beta zeolite, H-beta zeolite, MCM-22, and H-MCM-22 was studied on a continuous fixed bed reactor. The obtained products were anisole, o-cresol, p-cresol, and 2,4-xylenol. The effect of various parameters such as mole ratio of reactants (phenol:methanol), temperature, and time on stream were studied to attain the highest phenol conversion and the selectivity of the individual products. The maximum conversion of phenol was exhibited by H-MCM-22 with moderate anisole selectivity of 21%. The best selectivity of anisole (63%) was obtained by H-beta zeolite with 50% conversion of phenol. Selectivity of anisole decreases with increase in temperature which suggests that at high temperature C-methylation is favored over O-methylation. In addition, selectivity of anisole increases with the increase of the phenol to methanol feed ratio. The time on stream shows an increase in selectivity of anisole, p-cresol, and o-cresol with a decrease in 2,4-xylenol selectivity.