Aerobic Oxidation of Styrenes Catalyzed by an Iron Metal Organic Framework

Aerobic oxidation of a series of styrenes to benzaldehyde, styrene oxide, and derivatives has been performed with N-hydroxyphthalimide loaded on Fe(BTC) (BTC: 1,3,S-benzenetricarboxylate) under different reaction conditions. A suitable mechanism based on peroxidation of the primary benzaldehyde has been proposed for the formation of styrene oxide based on the observed results.