OXIDIZING ABILITY AS THE DEFINING FACTOR OF REACTIVITY OF SULFATED ZIRCONIA

Reaction of benzene with sulfated zirconia (SZ) is an oxidation to a s urface phenyl ester (sulfite or sulfate) which forms phenol by hydroly sis, and a complex mixture of alkylbenzenes and polycyclic aromatics; a mechanism involving a one-electron transfer from benzene to SZ is pr oposed; oxidation of a fraction of substrate to alkyl surface esters w hich then ionize to carbocations is the origin of the high catalytic a ctivity of SZ for alkane isomerization.