Hydroxylation of benzene to phenol on CuxOy@C with hydrogen peroxide

CuxOy@C was directly prepared with glucose and a copper(II) salt by a one-pot hydrothermal method. The catalyst was characterized by XRD, TG, XPS, FT-IR and SEM. The catalytic performance for the hydroxylation of benzene to phenol in acetonitrile with hydrogen peroxide as the oxidant was investigated. The features of the reaction system with the prepared heterogeneous catalyst were studied by various reaction parameters including reaction temperature, catalyst amount, hydrogen peroxide amount, reaction time, effect of solvents and additives. The result showed that solvent and additive affect the yield of phenol.