Catalytic activities of a series of metalloporphyrin complexes in selective aerobic oxidation of toluene were investigated.The effects of different central metal ions in metalloporphyrins[T(p-Cl)PPMCl(M=Fe,Co,Mn,Cu)] on the reaction course had been examined and it was found that T(p-Cl)PPCu presented the highest catalytic activ- ity in the reaction.The reaction conditions of toluene oxidation were optimized by using orthogonal experiment de- sign.Five relevant factors were investigated:temperature,air pressure,catalyst loading,air flow rate and reaction time.The effects of the five factors on both toluene conversion and total yield of benzaldehyde and benzyl alcohol were discussed.The research results showed that the reaction temperature was the most significant factor influenc- ing toluene oxidation.On the basis of the margin analysis,the optimum conditions for the toluene conversion and the total yield of benzaldehyde and benzyl alcohol respectively were achieved,under which the toluene conversion was up to 14.67%and the total yield of benzaldehyde and benzyl alcohol reached 5.89%.
