Preparation of Fe2O3 doped SBA-15 for vapor phase ortho-position C-alkylation of phenol with methanol

A series of Fe 2 O 3 doped SBA-15 materials were prepared via an equivalent-volume impregnation method. The resultant Fe 2 O 3 -containing SBA-15 materials showed good performance in phenol methylation . Under the same conditions, the mesoporous catalyst with 5   wt.% Fe 2 O 3 showed the superior catalytic activity to that of pristine α -Fe 2 O 3 even at lower reaction temperature (320   °C vs. 350   °C). The elevated catalytic activity observed for the mesoporous catalyst could be due to high level dispersion of Fe 2 O 3 species in the mesoporous framework. Furthermore, the mesoporous catalyst possessed long lifetimes, which could be used continuously for 2000   h without significant loss of activity.