Highly selective n-alkanes oxidation to ketones with molecular oxygen catalyzed by SBA-15 supported rhenium catalysts

A series of tricarbonyl Re-(v) complexes, i.e. [Re(CO)(3)(K-3-PN2)] (1), [Re(CO)(3)Br(K-2-H2PNO)] (2), and [Re(CO)(3)Br(K-2-HPN-Pip)] (3), have been covalently anchored over modified SBA-15 as supported catalysts. Remarkably, high catalytic turnover numbers from 2240 to 2857 with high ketone selectivity was obtained for both C-5 and C-6-alkanes. Best oxidation condition was optimized by the variation of temperature, pressure, time and catalyst amount. A thermal stability test indicates that the catalysts are stable up to 200 degrees C and ICP shows negligible metal loss from the catalyst surface, after the 7th catalytic cycle, allowing further use. (C) 2013 The Korean Society of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.