Cobalt(II), copper(II) and zinc(II) complexes of 2-phenylbenzimidazole (PhBzlH) encapsulated in the supercages of zeolite-Y and ZSM-5 have been synthesized and characterized by spectroscopic studies (IR, UV/visible, EPR), elemental analyses, thermal studies and X-ray diffraction patterns. The catalytic activity of encapsulated complexes was investigated for the hydroxylation of phenol using 30 % H2O2 as an oxidant. Under optimized reaction conditions, the hydroxylation of phenol yielded catechol and hydroquinone as the major products. All catalysts show good selectivity for diphenol products. A maximum conversion of phenol was obtained with [Cu(PhBzlH)]-Y as the catalyst. The results showed that conversion of phenol varies in the order [Cu(PhBzlH)]-Y (53 %) > [Cu(PhBzlH)]-ZSM-5 > (49 %) > [Co(PhBzlH)]-ZSM-5 (47 %) > [Co(PhBzlH)]-Y (46 %) > [Zn(PhBzlH)]-Y (45 %) > [Zn(PhBzlH)]-ZSM-5 (41 %) after 6 h of reaction time. Test for the recyclability of the reaction was also carried out and the results indicate their recyclability
