The research team headed by Professor Wang Jun of the Nanjing Tech University (NJTech) has made an important progress in the aromatics alkylation reaction for manufacture of phenol compounds over zeolite catalyst, which has been used to prepare phenol compounds via instantaneous alkylation reaction involving over ten aromatic compounds (including benzene).

This research team by means of the dry gel conversion method for achieving the acid hydrolysis of silicon source has prepared a kind of all-silica zeolite catalyst capable of performing instantaneous direct alkylation of more than ten aromatic feedstocks to form phenol compounds within less than 30 seconds along with very high turnover frequency (TOF), which is far less than a conventional reaction duration in the range of more than ten hours. This novel zeolite possesses a super-high TOF, satisfactory space-time yield, good substrate applicability, and stable recycled use of catalyst, attesting to its potential commercial application prospect.