Oxidation of cyclohexylbenzene

A process for producing phenol and cyclohexanone, the process comprising:

• hydroalkylating benzene with hydrogen in the presence of a hydroalkylation catalyst under conditions effective to produce cyclohexylbenzene;
• (ii) contacting a feed comprising at least a portion of the cyclohexylbenzene with oxygen in the presence of a cyclic imide catalyst in a plurality of reaction zones connected in series, wherein the contacting in at least some of the plurality of reaction zones is conducted under conditions effective to oxidize a portion of the cyclohexylbenzene to cyclohexylbenzene hydroperoxide, and at least one of the plurality of reaction zones has a different reaction condition than another of the plurality of reaction zones, and the different reaction condition comprises both (a) a decrease in temperature and (b) an increase in catalyst concentration as the feed flows from one reaction zone to the next reaction zone in the series;
• and
• (iii) cleaving at least a portion of the cyclohexylbenzene hydroperoxide produced in (ii) to produce phenol and cyclohexanone.