Highly selective oxidation of alcohols using MnO2/TiO2-ZrO2 as a novel heterogeneous catalyst

MnO2/TiO2-ZrO2, which was synthesized by the adsorption method, demonstrated very high catalytic activity in the selective oxidation of benzyl alcohols to benzaldehydes with excellent yields and selectivity in short reaction times. The physical and chemical properties of MnO2/TiO2-ZrO2 were investigated by XRD, XRF, BET, FT-IR and SEM techniques. The influence of the catalyst support (SBA-15, ZSM-5, TiO2-ZrO2 and V), type of metal oxide supported, method of loading and amount of manganese nitrate loading have been thoroughly investigated. Moreover, the catalyst has shown excellent reusability in the process. (C) 2012 Academie des sciences. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.