Patent ID: 7759529

Claim:
A continuous process for the preparation of phenol by the direct oxidation of benzene with hydrogen peroxide comprising: activating a catalyst in a fixed bed reactor for the direct oxidation; feeding to the fixed bed reactor having the activated catalyst, a stream containing H 2 O 2 , benzene, sulfolane and water in a single or double phase; oxidizing the benzene at a temperature ranging from 80-120° C. and at a pressure ranging from 3-15 atm in the presence of the fixed catalyst; and recovering the products, by-products and solvent from the liquid stream leaving the reactor; wherein the liquid stream leaving the reactor comprises phenol, benzene, reaction by-products, sulfolane and water, the catalyst is represented by the formula: x TiO 2 (1− x )SiO 2 wherein x is from 0.0001 to 0.04, the quantities of the single components are within the range of 0.2-6, 15-60, 30-80, 0.5-30 parts by weight, respectively, for every 100 units fed, and a total flow rate is calculated so that a residence time in the reactor ranges from 0.3 to 2 min.