Direct Hydroxylation of benzene using micro plasma reactor

Direct hydroxylation of benzene to phenol was attempted using a micro plasma reactor, in which the plasma was generated by dielectric barrier discharge under atmospheric pressure. The experimental results showed that the reactor did not explode even with the concentrations of benzene and oxygen involving a danger of explosion, and the formation of phenol was observed. Effects of gas residence time and benzene-to-oxygen ratio in feed were investigated. An optimum residence time was found for the yield of phenol and the yield gradually decreased with increase in the benzene-to-oxygen ratio. Maximum yield of about 2% was achieved, suggesting that the proposed method was effective for the production of phenol.