Liquid-phase aerobic oxidation of benzyl alcohol catalyzed by mechanochemically synthesized manganese oxide

Benzyl alcohol oxidation by molecular oxygen using solid manganese oxide as a catalyst and n-heptane as the solvent was studied in the liquid phase. The catalyst was synthesized by a simple mechanochemical process at room temperature and was characterized by different physical methods. The catalyst was highly active and 100% selective for benzyl alcohol conversion to benzaldehyde. The solid catalyst can be recovered from the reaction mixture by simple filtration and can be re-used. We found n-heptane to be an excellent solvent for the oxidation reaction, and that the catalyst did not leach into solution.