Nano NiFe 2 O 4 supported phenanthroline Cu(II) complex as a retrievable catalyst for selective and environmentally friendly oxidation of benzylic alcohols

A new magnetically recoverable catalyst consisting of phenanthroline Cu(II) complex supported on nickel ferrite nanoparticles was prepared. The synthesized catalyst was characterized by Fourier transform in-frared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, transmission and scanning electron microscopes, thermogravimetry, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, vibrating sample magnetometry and inductively coupled plasma. Supported copper complex used for solvent free oxidation of 1-phenyl ethanol as a model. Influence of the reaction parameters (kind of oxidant, amount of the catalyst, reaction time, solvent and reaction temperature) were studied. Because of the immobilized complex has been shown to be an efficient het-erogeneous catalyst for the selective oxidation of 1-phenyl ethanol to acetophenone (94% yield) by hydro-gen peroxide so this green approach extended to other benzylic alcohols. The catalyst had been reused 10 times with no significant loss of catalytic activity. SEM, EDX, XRD, and ICP analysis of reused catalyst indicated that the catalyst was stable after the reaction. (c) 2021 Published by Elsevier B.V.

Automated summary

A new magnetically recoverable catalyst consisting of phenanthroline Cu(II) complex supported on nickel ferrite nanoparticles was prepared and studied for solvent free oxidation reactions. The catalyst showed high selectivity and efficiency for the oxidation of 1-phenyl ethanol, with good stability in repeated use.