Oxidizing ability as the defining factor of reactivity of sulfated zirconia

Reaction of benzene with sulfated zirconia (SZ) is an oxidation to a surface phenyl ester (sulfite or sulfate) which forms phenol by hydrolysis, and a complex mixture of alkylbenzenes and polycyclic aromatics; a mechanism involving a one-electron transfer from benzene to SZ is proposed; oxidation of a fraction of substrate to alkyl surface esters which then ionize to carbocations is the origin of the high catalytic activity of SZ for alkane isomerization.