@article {49560,
	title = {Liquid phase nitration of benzene to nitrobenzene using a mesoporous MoO3/Nb2O5 nanocatalyst},
	journal = {Catalysis Letters},
	volume = {155},
	year = {2025},
	month = {APR},
	pages = {141},
	type = {Article},
	abstract = {<p>
	This work reports the synthesis of a mesoporous MoO3/Nb2O5 catalyst by a facile co-precipitation method for the liquid phase nitration of benzene to nitrobenzene, which is a vital industrial reaction. Pristine Nb2O5 and MoO3/Nb2O5 nanocatalysts were characterized using various techniques, including powder XRD, N-2 adsorption-desorption, Raman, SEM/TEM, pyridine FT-IR, and XPS. The MoO3/Nb2O5 catalyst (10 wt\% MoO3 with respect to Nb2O5) showed uniform dispersion of Mo and Nb species, higher amount of oxygen vacancies, and more Br \&amp; oslash;nsted acid sites, resulting in a 90\% yield of nitrobenzene. In contrast, only 35 and 58\% yields were obtained in the case of commercial Nb2O5 and nanosized Nb2O5, respectively. The liquid phase nitration of benzene was carried out using commercial 65\% HNO3 as a nitrating agent without sulfuric acid. The mesoporous MoO3/Nb2O5 catalyst is structurally stable, as confirmed by the characterization of the spent catalyst. However, a gradual decrease in the yield of nitrobenzene was observed, which could be due to the leaching of MoO3 species from the catalyst surface.</p>
},
	keywords = {Benzene nitration, Bronsted acid sites, Mesoporous MoO3/Nb2O5 Catalyst, nitrobenzene, Uniform metal dispersion},
	issn = {1011-372X},
	doi = {10.1007/s10562-025-04981-2},
	author = {Kalbande, Pavan Narayan and Swapna, Bhattu and Sudarsanam, Putla and Umbarkar, Shubhangi B.}
}
