Synthesis, Characterization and Catalytic Studies of Heterogeneous Oxo-Vanadium(IV) Schiff base Catalyst for Activation of Benzylic C-H bonds of Alkanes

Here, polymer grafted vanadium(IV) Schiff base catalyst was prepared and applied in the oxidation of benzylic C-H bonds of alkanes. The solid complex was characterized by some modern techniques i.e. FT-IR, TGA, SEM-EDX and solid state UV-Vis spectroscopy (DRS). This heterogeneous complex showed excellent activity for the oxidation of toluene to benzaldehyde using 30% H2O2 as an oxidantin acetonitrile (ACN) medium at 70oC. This vanadium catalyst was also active for the oxidation of various substituted toluenes. It showed good conversion as well as selectivity for the production of aldehydes from alkanes. The reported catalyst was easily recovered and reused for at least eight times with similar activity.