Selective oxidation of arylalkanes with N-Graphitic-Modified cobalt nanoparticles in water

N-Graphitic-Modified cobalt nanoparticles supported on carbon powder (Co/phen@CB-800-L) were prepared and found to be efficient catalysts for selective oxidation of arylalkanes to aromatic ketones with tert-butyl hydroperoxide (TBHP) in water. A broad scope of substrates have been investigated, the desired products were obtained with yields as high as 99% under the optimized condition in all cases. Remarkably, this carbon powder supported catalyst could be recovered easily, and showed high activity within six successive runs.