Liquid Phase Oxidation Of The Side Chain Of Aromatic Compounds To Study

The liquid phase oxidation of 2-nitrotoluene and 2, 4-dimethylnitrobenzene with air, oxygen or chemical oxidants were studied. 2-Nitrotoluene was oxidized to 2-nitrobenzaldehyde in basic solutions in 52% selectivity with 79% conversion. In the literature, this kind of reaction was often reported to take place in the presence of a transition metal catalyst, however, we found that the oxidation takes place without the presence of any kind of transition metal compounds. 2,4-Dimethylnitrobenzene was oxidized to 3-methyl-4-nitrobenzoic acid in 41% yield under heterogeneous conditions in the presence of a phase transfer catalyst. Without the presence of a phase transfer catalyst, the oxidation gave mainly 4-nitro-1, 3-benzenedicarboxylic acid.The factors influencing the above oxidations and the mechanisms of the above oxidations were discussed according to experimental resuts.