Novel transition-metal-free heterogeneous epoxidation catalysts discovered by means of high-throughput experimentation

Various transition-metal-free oxides have been studied as catalysts for the epoxidation of cyclooctene with hydrogen peroxide by means of high-throughput experimentation. Different boron, aluminium, and gallium oxides were prepared according to various synthesis methods. A number of pure aluminium and gallium oxides showed very good catalytic performances, while the results obtained with boron oxides or mixed oxides were less positive. The best results were obtained with a gallium oxide catalyst, which gave an epoxide yield of 71 % and a selectivity of 99% after reaction for 4h at 80 degrees C. Gallium oxides had not been reported previously as active epoxidation catalysts. The use of high-throughput experimentation proved useful both for discovering new active catalysts and for identifying a number of relationships between the synthesis conditions and the catalytic properties of the transition-metal-free oxides.