Fe³⁺-Exchanged Titanate Nanotubes: A New Kind of Highly Active Heterogeneous Catalyst for Friedel-Crafts Type Benzylation

Table 1

Benzylations of substituted benzene with benzyl chloride over Fe-TNTs at 70°C^a.

Run	Aromatic compound	Time^b (min)	Selectivity (%)
			o-	p-
1	Benzene	30	—	100^c
2	Toluene	15	39.2^d	60.8^d
3	p-Xylene	12	100^e	—
4	o-Xylene	9	100^f	—
5	Ethylbenzene	15	24.8^g	75.2^g
6	Mesitylene	6	100^h	—
7	Anisole	24	33.7^i	66.3^f

Reaction conditions: 10 mL of benzene (or equivalent mole of substituted benzene), 0.5 mL of benzyl chloride, and 100 mg of catalyst. The conversion was calculated from benzyl chloride.
^bTime required for complete conversion of benzyl chloride.
^cDiphenylmethane.
^d(o-) 2-Methyl diphenylmethane, (p-) 4-methyl diphenylmethane.
^e2,5-Dimethyl diphenylmethane.
^f2,3-Dimethyl diphenylmethane.
^g(o-) 2-Ethyl diphenylmethane, (p-) 4-ethyl diphenylmethane.
^h2,4,6-Trimethyl diphenylmethane.
ⁱ(o-) 2-Methoxy diphenylmethane, (p-) 4-methoxy diphenylmethane.