Paper Title
Thermal Activation of Incl3/Si-Mcm-41, Incl3/Mont. K-10 and Incl3/H-Beta: Highly Active and Stable Solid Catalyst for the Friedel- Crafts Type Benzylation and Benzoylation Reactions

Abstract
Heterogeneous catalysts InCl3/Si-MCM-41, InCl3/Mont. K-10 clay and InCl3/H-beta zeolite with InCl3 loading of 0.5-2.0 mmol.g-1 were prepared by wet-impregnation and thermally activated (95-600 C) under the flow of N2 or air showed high catalytic activity towards the friedel-Crafts type benzylation of benzene and benzoylation of p-xylene. Formation of new catalytically active surface species –O-InCl2 and/or (-O)2InCl by the solid-solid reaction between the supported InCl3 and the surface hydroxyls of the catalyst support occurs at high temperatures which are responsible for the enhanced catalytic activity of these catalysts. The prepared catalysts were also found to be stable under air/moisture with no effect on its catalytic activity. The -InClx are chemically bonded to the support by -O- linakges. High turn-over frequency and shorter reaction times where observed in all the cases. Effects of reaction parameters such as catalyst calcination temperature, atmosphere of calcination, catalyst loading were also studied. Among the thermally activated supported InCl3 catalysts, InCl3/Mont.K-10 and InCl3/H-beta with the In-loading of 1.0 mmol/g show best results in the benzylation and benzoylation reactions, respectively, due to redox and acidic properties, such as clayzic, supported oxides and chlorides of iron. Index Terms- Friedel-Crafts Type Reaction, Benzylation, Benzoylation, Thermal Activation.