RESEARCH ARTICLE

Metal salts with highly electronegative cations as efficient catalysts for the liquid-phase nitration of benzene by NO2 to nitrobenzene

  • Shenghui Zhou 1 ,
  • Kuiyi You , 1,2 ,
  • Zhengming Yi 1,2 ,
  • Pingle Liu 1,2 ,
  • Hean Luo , 1,2
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  • 1. School of Chemical Engineering, Xiangtan University, Xiangtan 411105, China
  • 2. National & Local United Engineering Research Center for Chemical Process Simulation and Intensification, Xiangtan University, Xiangtan 411105, China

Received date: 21 Oct 2016

Accepted date: 10 Jan 2017

Published date: 12 May 2017

Copyright

2017 Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

Abstract

Metal salts with highly electronegative cations have been used to effectively catalyze the liquid-phase nitration of benzene by NO2 to nitrobenzene under solvent-free conditions. Several salts including FeCl3, ZrCl4, AlCl3, CuCl2, NiCl2, ZnCl2, MnCl2, Fe(NO3)3·9H2O, Bi(NO3)3·5H2O, Zr(NO3)4·5H2O, Cu(NO3)2·6H2O, Ni(NO3)2·6H2O, Zn(NO3)2·6H2O, Fe2(SO4)3, and CuSO4 were examined and anhydrous FeCl3 exhibited the best catalytic performance under the optimal reaction conditions. The benzene conversion and selectivity to nitrobenzene were both over 99%. In addition, it was determined that the metal counterion and the presence of water hydrates in the salt affects the catalytic activity. This method is simple and efficient and may have potential industrial application prospects.

Cite this article

Shenghui Zhou , Kuiyi You , Zhengming Yi , Pingle Liu , Hean Luo . Metal salts with highly electronegative cations as efficient catalysts for the liquid-phase nitration of benzene by NO2 to nitrobenzene[J]. Frontiers of Chemical Science and Engineering, 2017 , 11(2) : 205 -210 . DOI: 10.1007/s11705-017-1625-3

Acknowledgments

We gratefully acknowledge the financial support for this work by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 21676226 and 21306158), the Collaborative Innovation Center of New Chemical Technologies for Environmental Benignity and Efficient Resource Utilization, and the Project of Technological Innovation & Entrepreneurship Platform for Hunan Youth (2014).
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