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1586440 
Journal Article 
Photocatalytic Hydroxylation of Phenol to Catechol and Hydroquinone by Using Organic Pigment as Selective Photocatalyst 
Shi, H; Zhang, T; An, T; Li, Bin; Wang, X 
2012 
Yes 
Current Organic Chemistry
ISSN: 1385-2728
EISSN: 1875-5348 
16 
24 
3002-3007 
WOS:000312202600008 
The application of photocatalytic reactions in organic
synthesis has attracted extensive attentions because of recent developments in environmentally
benign synthetic processes. For the first time, an organic pigment (C. I. Pigment Green 8) was
used as selective photocatalyst to accomplish the photocatalytic hydroxylation of phenol to
catechol (CAT) and hydroquinone (HQ) with the assistance of UV irradiation at room temperature.
The prepared photocatalysts were characterized by FT-IR spectrum and UV-visible diffuse
reflectance spectroscopy (UV-vis DRS), and the result found that the photocatalyst exhibits
excellent adsorption ability both in the ultraviolet and visible light region. The effects of
various affecting-parameters, such as catalyst amount, H2O2 amount, co-solvents and reaction
time, on the photocatalytic hydroxylation of phenol were studied to optimize the reaction
conditions. The desired products (CAT and HQ) on the photocatalyst can be facilitated with an
increase in the selectivity. In this study, the conversion efficiency of phenol could reach high
up to 87.8% with a total selectivity of 73.0% as well as the yield of 37.0% and 27.4% for CAT and
HQ, respectively. The reaction is a photo-Fenton like process, and the iron ions cycle between
Fe2+ and Fe3+ occurs with the light irradiation. 
Pigment photocatalyst; Selective photocatalysis; Hydroxylation; Phenol; Catechol; Hydroquinone