Benzylation of benzene and other aromatics by benzyl chloride over copper-mesoporous molecular sieves materials

The benzylation of benzene and substituted benzene reactions employing benzyl chloride as the alkylating agent over a series of copper-containing mesoporous silicas with different Cu contents has been investigated. These materials (Cu-HMS-n) have been characterised by chemical analysis, BET and XRD. The mesoporous copper-containing materials showed both high activity and high selectivity for the benzylation of benzene. The activity of these catalysts for the benzylation of different aromatic compounds is in the following order: benzene > toluene > p-xylene > anisole. The kinetics of benzene benzylation over these catalysts have also been investigated.