A bipyridyl palladium complex covalently anchored onto silica as an effective and recoverable interphase catalyst for the aerobic oxidation of alcohols

A new silica-based Pd(II) interphase catalyst 2 efficiently catalyzes the aerobic oxidation of various types of structurally diverse alcohols to the corresponding carbonyl compounds. The catalyst is also quite effective for the oxidation of primary benzylic alcohols under atmospheric pressure of air. The catalyst shows high thermal stability (up to 200 degrees C) and is also stable under the oxidation reaction conditions. To our knowledge this work is the first example of the application of a palladium complex covalently anchored to silica for the aerobic oxidation of alcohols.