Selective Mild Oxidation of Anilines into Nitroarenes by Catalytic Activation of Mesoporous Frameworks Linked with Gold-Loaded Mn3O4 Nanoparticles

This work reports the synthesis and catalytic application of mesoporous Au-loaded Mn3O4 nanoparticle assemblies (MNAs) with different Au contents, i. e., 0.2, 0.5 and 1 wt %, towards the selective oxidation of anilines into the corresponding nitroarenes. Among common oxidants, as well as several supported gold nanoparticle platforms, Au/Mn3O4 MNAs containing 0.5 wt % Au with an average particle size of 3-4 nm show the best catalytic performance in the presence of tert-butyl hydroperoxide (TBHP) as a mild oxidant. In all cases, the corresponding nitroarenes were isolated in high to excellent yields (85-97 %) and selectivity (>98 %) from acetonitrile or greener solvents, such as ethyl acetate, after simple flash chromatography purification. The 0.5 % Au/Mn3O4 catalyst can be isolated and reused four times without a significant loss of its activity and can be applied successfully to a lab-scale reaction of p-toluidine (1 mmol) leading to the p-nitrotulene in 83 % yield. The presence of AuNPs on the Mn3O4 surface enhances the catalytic activity for the formation of the desired nitroarene. A reasonable mechanism was proposed including the plausible formation of two intermediates, the corresponding N-aryl hydroxylamine and the nitrosoarene.

Automated summary

This study reports the synthesis and catalytic application of mesoporous Au-loaded Mn3O4 nanoparticle assemblies with different Au contents for the selective oxidation of anilines into nitroarenes. The results show that Au/Mn3O4 MNAs containing 0.5 wt % Au exhibit the best catalytic performance among different catalysts, leading to high yields and selectivity of the corresponding nitroarenes.