High‐Pressure Electrochemical Oxidation of Benzene at a Lead Dioxide Electrode in Aqueous Bisulfate Solutions at 25° to 250°C

Abstract

The oxidation of benzene at a lead dioxide electrode which produces predominantly benzoquinone, maleic acid, and carbon dioxide, has been investigated in aqueous solutions as a function of temperature up to 250°C. An increase in the benzene concentration does not increase the concentration of benzoquinone formed at high temperature, which is different from the behavior at 25°C. The formation of biphenyl at high temperature was also discovered. A novel type of single‐pass flow reactor for studying high temperature electrochemistry is described.