Friedel–Crafts acylation of aromatic compounds

An efficient method for the Friedel–Crafts acylation of a wide range of aromatic compounds in good to excellent yields under solvent-free conditions, using iron zirconium phosphate (ZPFe) was investigated. The catalyst is easy to prepare and shows interesting catalytic properties. The catalyst was characterized by some instrumental techniques such as XRD, ICP-OES, SEM and TEM. A wide variety of benzene derivatives reacted easily with benzoyl chloride and some of its derivatives to afford the corresponding aromatic ketones in clean and good yields with the para isomer predominating typically using 3mol% of catalyst. The use of inexpensive materials, simple and clean work-up, short reaction times in most cases and good yields are the main advantages of this method. This work introduces a new application of this catalyst, not described in the literature until now. Also, the catalyst can be recovered and reused for three times without a significant loss in its activity and selectivity.