Iron-containing mesoporous mordenite was prepared by post treatment and ion-exchanged method for thefirst time. The Fe-M-Mor catalyst showed excellent catalytic performance in the benzylation of
benzene and benzyl chloride. The apparent reaction rate constant for
Fe-M-Mor is about ten times as that for Fe-Mor. The catalytic activity
had no good relationship with the acidity of catalysts. Such big difference in catalytic activity should be mainly attributed to the existence
of mesopores and more active iron sites in Fe-M-Mor. The study on
heterogeneous nature demonstrated that Fe-M-Mor is a heterogeneous
catalyst and could be reused. Additionally, the catalyst has found potential application in other Friedel–Crafts alkylations, especially towards
large molecular reactions