Selective oxidation of sulfides with H2O2 catalyzed by silica-tungstate core-shell nanoparticles

Selective oxidation of sulfides to sulfoxides with 30% hydrogen peroxide in shorter reaction times catalyzed by silica-tungstate (SiO2@WO42-) core-shell nanoparticles in water is reported. The synthesized catalyst was well characterized by TEM, XRD, XPS. UV-Vis, FT-IR, AFM and ICP-AES techniques. The formation of water as the only by-product and the reaction in water serves as an environmentally benign process. The catalyst can be recovered and reused for several cycles without loss of activity. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.