Abstract:
p-Diacetylbenzene (PDAB) is an important organic material in fine chemical engineering. Liquid oxidation of
p-diethylbenzene (PDEB) to prepare
p-diacetylbenzene was studied using Co(Ac)
2·4H
2O as a catalyst, H
2O
2 as an oxidant and KBr as an additive. Reaction conditions were optimized by an L
8(2
7) orthogonal design. The results show that catalyst, oxidant and additive dosages are the main factors that affect PDAB selectivity. The optimum conditions are as follows: molar ratios of Co(Ac)
2·4H
2O:PDEB, H
2O
2:PDEB and KBr:PDEB are 0.25, 0.08 and 1.8, respectively. The conversion rate is ~100% and PDAB selectivity reaches to 80.81% at 82℃ for 6.38 h. GC-MS results show that PDEB is first oxidized to
p-ethylacetophenone (EAP), and then EAP is converted to PDAB. The principle and pathway of oxidation reaction from PDEB to PDAB was also discussed. This paper provides fundamental ideas in developing PDEB oxidation processes to prepare PDAB.