Mesoporous zeolites may be the ideal catalysts for the Friedel–Crafts
reaction of large molecules, because they can not only overcome the diffusion
limitation of zeolites on the reaction rate but also maintain stability
and strong acidity like conventional zeolites. Various preparative
methods have been reported on the synthesis of mesoporous zeolites
[27–33]. The catalytic performance in the benzylation of benzene by
benzyl alcohol over mesoporous ZSM-5 and mordenite has also been
studied. The results showed that mesoporous zeolites had a much
higher catalytic activity than microporous zeolites [34,35]. However,
compared with iron-containing catalysts, their catalytic reactivity is
relatively weak. To our best knowledge, the study of iron-containing
mesoporous zeolites in Friedel–Crafts alkylations has been not reported.
In the present work, mesoporous mordenite was chosen as the
research target due to its easy preparation and low cost. Based on the
material, iron-containing mesoporous mordenite was obtained by
ion-exchanged method. The catalytic performance of the sample was
evaluated by using the model reaction of the benzylation of benzene
by benzyl chloride for the first time