Liquid phase aerobic oxidation of cyclic and linear hydrocarbons using iron metal organic frameworks as solid heterogeneous catalyst

Aerobic oxidation of hydrocarbons is one of the research fronts in organic chemistry as well as in chemical engineering. In this aspect, many efforts are devoted to develop heterogeneous catalysts that can convert hydrocarbon to its corresponding alcohol/ketone (ol/one) with selectivity more than 90%. However, achieving this target becomes difficult due to possible secondary reactions of initially formed ol/one mixture. Hence, this study aims to report the catalytic activity of Fe(BTC) (BTC: 1,3,5-benzenetricarboxylate) and tetrabutylammonium bromide (TBAB) in aerobic oxidation of cyclooctane at 73% conversion to its respective ol/one with 84% selectivity after 24 h at 120 degrees C in the absence of any radical initiators. Interestingly, the selectivity of ol/one is higher than 90% at cyclooctane conversion around 20% under present reaction conditions. Reusability and leaching experiments demonstrate the stability of Fe(BTC) during the oxidation reaction. Furthermore, the present catalytic system can also be extended to oxidize other linear hydrocarbons to their respective ol/one products with the selectivity ranging between 88-97 %.