Highly para-selective alkylation of phenol with alcohols over MgO doped Hβ zeolite

As a crucial fine chemical intermediate, the compound 4-TBP holds significant importance in both antioxidant synthesis and the production of various fine chemical products, including resins, flame retardants, surfactants, and ultraviolet absorbers. However, traditional catalysts employed in the production of 4-TBP are plagued by several drawbacks, such as equipment corrosion, environmental contamination, and inadequate thermal stability. In order to overcome these challenges, a series of Hβ-x% MgO catalysts with varying MgO loadings were successfully synthesized using the immersion method. These catalysts were comprehensively characterized through multiple analytical techniques, including XRD, FT-IR, SEM, N 2 adsorption–desorption analysis, ICP-OES, Py-IR, 27 Al and 29 Si MAS NMR and CO 2 -TPD. These materials were subjected to catalytic evaluation through the phenol alkylation process using tert -butyl alcohol as the alkylating agent. Notably, the Hβ-2.5% MgO catalyst demonstrated superior performance, a remarkable selectivity of 88.2% toward 4-TBP production was attained, which represents a 14.7% improvement over the unmodified Hβ zeolite. The study scope was expanded to incorporate methanol as an alkylation agent, consistent reaction rules were observed, which contributes significantly to the understanding of alcohol-mediated phenol alkylation studies.