GO/Fe3O4/HPW nanocomposite in the chemoselective oxidation of alcohols

What is it about?

Graphene oxide magnetic nanocomposite (GO/Fe3O4/HPW) was prepared by linking amino-functionalized Fe3O4 nanoparticles (Fe3O4-NH2) on the graphene oxide (GO) and then grafting 12-tungstophosphoric acid (H3PW12O40) on the graphene oxide-magnetite hybrid (GO-Fe3O4-NH2). This new nanocomposite displayed excellent performance as a heterogeneous catalyst in the oxidation of alcohols with H2O2. The as-prepared GO/Fe3O4/HPW catalyst was more stable and recyclable at least five times without significantly reducing its catalytic activity.

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Why is it important?

Our new catalytic system was found to be very effective towards the oxidation of primary and secondary benzylic alcohols to the corresponding aldehydes or ketones with almost 75-99% conversions, without any over-oxidation to acid (100% selectivity). The oxidation reaction was also performed for two types of primary aliphatic alcohol to the corresponding aldehyde. The product efficiency was less than that of benzylic alcohols (45 and 50%) due to over-oxidation to the corresponding carboxylic acid. TGA analysis showed that the thermal stability of the catalyst was much higher than graphene oxide. To verify the chemoselectivity, a series of competition experiments were also undertaken.