Cu3(BTC)2 as heterogeneous catalyst for the room temperature oxidative hydroxylation of arylboronic acids

A well known copper based-metal organic framework (MOF), namely Cu-3(BTC)(2), is a suitable heterogeneous catalyst to promote the oxidative room-temperature hydroxylation of arylboronic acids to the corresponding phenols by H2O2. Using 0.5 equiv of H2O2, Cu-3(BTC)(2) exhibits 80% conversion in 60 min that is higher than 70% conversion achieved with Fe(BTC) under the same conditions and reaction time. Cu-3(BTC)(2) is reusable with no significant drop in the activity. Furthermore, powder XRD of the reused Cu-3(BTC)(2) shows no changes in crystallinity compared to the fresh Cu-3(BTC)(2), indicating catalyst stability is maintained under reaction conditions. The scope of Cu-3(BTC)(2) as heterogeneous catalyst for the oxidative hydroxylation was studied for various phenylboronic acids. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.