Brønsted‐Acidic Mesoporous Beta Zeolite H‐MBeta Catalyzes the Conversion of Benzhydrol into Diphenylmethane and Diphenyl Ketone

Abstract

Developing a highly efficient catalytic system for the transformation of benzhydrol to simultaneously form diphenylmethane and diphenyl ketone is an attractive strategy in modern organic synthesis. In this work, acidic mesoporous Beta (H‐MBeta) zeolite successfully catalyzed the dismutation of the benzhydrol to yield equivalent amounts of diphenylmethane and diphenyl ketone under mild conditions. Combining X‐ray diffraction, N2‐adsorption, ammonia temperature programmed desorption, pyridine‐adsorbed infrared spectra, scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy, it was found that, compared to MBeta, H‐MZSM‐5 and USY zeolite catalysts, the abundant Brønsted acidic sites on the external surface of H‐MBeta are responsible for its superior catalytic performance.