Now there is just one step to phenol
16 Jan 2002
Japanese process engineers have designed a process to convert benzene to phenol in a single step with no unwanted byproducts.
The team, from the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, is developing the process to the point where it could enter industrial use.
Currently, phenol is made via a multistage process which produces acetone as a by-product. The new process, described in Science, involves passing oxygen, hydrogen and benzene vapour over a palladium catalyst deposited onto a porous alumina membrane at 250°C.
The process is 90% selective for low conversion rates, although this drops for higher rates. The researchers claim that it produces phenol at a yield of 1.5kg per kg of catalyst.
