Phenol alkylation over lanthana modified zinc manganese ferrospinels

Abstract

Various compositions of zinc manganese ferrospinels and their lanthana modifications were tested as catalysts for the vapor phase alkylation of phenol with methanol. The zinc manganese ferrospinels were prepared by the controlled low temperature hydroxide co-precipitation method and their lanthana modification by the wet impregnation method. The prepared systems were characterized by various physico-chemical methods. All the ferrite samples proved to be active for the alkylation of phenol using methanol and lanthana modified systems exhibited cent percent for o-cresol. Being an acid–base catalyzed reaction, the enhancement in the phenol conversion for the phenol alkylation reaction using methanol in the prepared systems is mainly due to their increased acidity, especially in the strong regions. Under the optimized reaction conditions, all the systems showed constant activity for a long time.