Patent ID: 7038093

Claim:
A process for the preparation of phenol comprising the following phases: 1) continuously preparing phenol by means of the direct oxidation of benzene with hydrogen peroxide operating with an H 2 O 2 /benzene ratio ranging from 10 to 70%, in a three-phase reaction system comprising a first liquid phase consisting of benzene and an organic solvent, a second liquid phase consisting of water, a solid phase consisting of an activated catalyst based on titanium silicalite TS-1; 2) separating the phenol and non-reacted benzene from the reaction mixture of the oxidation section (1), by means of fractionated distillation; 3) separating the solvent and by-products consisting of benzenediols from the mixture coming from the distillation tail (2), by means of basic extraction; 4) transforming the by-products obtained in section (3) to phenol by means of hydrodeoxygenation with hydrogen operating in continuous, in aqueous solution, at a temperature ranging from 250 to 500° C., at pressures of 1-100 bar and in the presence of a catalyst based on elements of group VIB or their mixtures or group VIII of the periodic table or their mixtures; 5) recycling of the phenol obtained in section (4) to the distillation section (2).