Selective arene production from transfer hydrogenolysis of benzyl phenyl ether promoted by a co-precipitated Pd/Fe3O4 catalyst

The catalytic transfer hydrogenolysis of benzyl phenyl ether has been investigated using Pd/Fe3O4 as a heterogeneous catalyst and 2-propanol as a H-donor. After 90 minutes at 240 degrees C, the cleavage of the ether C-O bond occurs as the only reaction route without hydrogenation of the aromatic ring.