On the Liquid-phase Air Oxidation of Benzaldehyde I. The Effect of Xylene Isomers as the Solvent on the Oxidation

A mixture of benzaldehyde and xylene was used as the oxidation sample. The mixture was benzaldehyde/xylene=1 in mol ratio. The oxidation was carried out by passing air in the mixture at 70℃. The formation of benzoic acid was investigated on the three isomeric xylenes. The formation of benzoic acid increased in the order : o-xylene ≈ p-xylene > m-xylene