Abstract: The preparation of supported iron catalysts for application in the synthesis of 2,4,6-methylbenzoic acid was studied including factors influencing the catalyst preparation on the yield of α-chlor-1-(2,4,6-trimethylphenyl)-1-ethanone, which was a synthetic intermediate of 2,4,6-methylbenzoic acid. Test results showed that the optimum catalyst preparation conditions were using alumina support with an iron loaded amount of 20% and activation at 400 ℃. The optimum acylation conditions for mesitylene over said catalyst were obtained by orthogonal experiments as follows: C9H12/ClCH2COCl molar ratio of 0.5, a reaction temperature of 80 ℃, a reaction time of 4 h and a catalyst dosage of 0.25% (based on the mass of mesitylene). Under such reaction conditions, the yield of α-chlor-1-(2,4,6-trimethylphenyl)-1-ethanone reached 81.8%.

Key words: Supported iron catalyst, Mesitylene, 2,4,6-methylbenzoic acid, acylation, α-chlor-1-(2,4,6-trimethylphenyl)-1-ethanone