A Novel Iron-Based Catalyst for the Biphasic Oxidation of Benzene to Phenol with Hydrogen Peroxide

Improved selectivity and decreased formation of overoxygenated byproducts were achieved by using a MeCN/H2O biphasic system for the iron-catalyzed oxidation of benzene to phenol with H2O2. Under optimized reaction conditions with 5-carboxy-2-methylpyrazine-N-oxide as the ligand for iron [Eq. (1)] a benzene conversion of 8.6 % and selectivities based on benzene and H2O2 of 97 and 88 %, respectively, were obtained.