Magneto-structural properties and reliability of (Mn/Ni/Zn) substituted cobalt-copper ferrite heterogeneous catalyst for selective and efficient oxidation of aryl alcohols

Herein, M2+ substituted CoCuFe2O4 (M2+ = Mn, Zn, Ni) ferrites have been synthesized using the sol-gel auto combustion method. The structural, morphological and magnetic studies confirm the phase formation of pure magnetic cubic spinel MCoCuFe2O4 (M2+ = Mn, Zn, Ni) ferrites. The substitution with Mn, Ni and Zn does not show large variation in binding energies obtained from XPS of Cu (2p) that specifies identical copper concentration (Cu-0.5) and substitution of only cobalt (Co2+) in Mn-F, Ni-F and Zn-F catalysts. Interestingly, MCoCuFe2O4 magnetic catalysts were explored for selective oxidation of a series of substituted benzyl alcohols. Catalyst Mn-F showed 93% conversion of benzyl alcohol while, Ni-F showed 95% conversion of 4-nitrobenzyl alcohol. Whereas, the catalyst Zn-F was showed 96% conversion for 4-methoxybenzyl alcohol. Additionally the results also indicate an efficient separation and recovery of the magnetic catalysts after four successive reuses without any considerable loss in its catalytic activity.