Synthesis and characterization of Fe- and Cu-doped molybdovanadophosphoric acids and their application in catalytic oxidation

Heteropolycompounds, where one molybdenum atom of molybdophosphoric acid (M12P) was substituted by one vanadium atom, H4PMo11VO40, were synthesized and doped with Cu2+ or Fe3+. The prepared molybdovanadophosphates were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, P-31 nuclear magnetic resonance, diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, thermal analysis, potentiometric titration, and cyclic voltammetry. The catalytic performance testing showed that the prepared materials have high catalytic activity for the room temperature conversion of 2,6-dimethylphenol to 2,6-dimethyl-1,4-benzoquinone using aqueous hydrogen peroxide as oxidizing agent. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.