Abstract
The review gives a systematic account of studies on the oxidation of benzene by different methods — with oxygen in the gas phase, with Fenton's reagent in aqueous solution, under the action of light and penetrating radiation, and also catalytic oxidation in aqueous solution. Particular attention has been paid to the mechanism of the oxidation of benzene; the main experimental evidence for individual mechanisms is discussed and unlikely schemes are criticised. Kinetic data and the mechanism of the catalytic oxidation of benzene to phenol with oxygen in aqueous solution in the presence of iron and copper ions which follows from them are discussed in detail. The bibliography incorporates 120 references.