Mrityunjaya Asthana

Solvent free selective oxidation of alcohols catalyzed by a trinuclear complex with a dicopper(II)–monozinc(II) centre using hydrogen peroxide as an oxidant

The oxidation of alcohols to carbonyl compounds was investigated by an efficient catalytic system comprising of a new heterotrinuclear complex containing a dicopper(II)–monozinc(II) centre, [ZnCu2(slsch)(NO3)2(H2O)8]·2H2O with hydrogen peroxide under solvent free conditions. Primary and secondary alcohols were oxidized to the corresponding aldehydes and ketones in good to excellent yield. The newly developed catalyst system can be reused in four consecutive runs without any significant loss of activity.

An efficient oxidation of alcohols using a new trinuclear copper complex as a reusable catalyst under solvent free conditions

A new trinuclear copper(II) complex [Cu3(L)(μ2-Cl)2(H2O)6] was synthesized and characterized by various spectroscopic techniques. The trinuclear complex was demonstrated as an efficient catalyst for the selective oxidation of primary, secondary, aliphatic, heteroatomic and conjugated allyl alcohols to the corresponding aldehydes/ketones in good to excellent yields under solvent free conditions using H2O2 as an oxidant. The catalyst is easily synthesizable, easy to handle and reusable up to eight runs.