Selective Oxidation of Organic Substrates in Presence of H2O2 using a Polymer-Anchored Iron(III)-Ferrocene Complex

An eco-friendly, cheap and reusable polymer-anchored iron(III)-ferrocene Schiff base catalyst has been designed for the efficient oxidation of alkanes and alcohols. Oxidation reactions were done by using a greener oxidant 30 % aqueous hydrogen peroxide in acetonitrile medium at room temperature for alcohols and at 60 °C for alkanes. Both the alkanes and alcohols have been selectively oxidized to their corresponding aldehydes and ketones in excellent yields. This catalyst has shown excellent catalytic activity with high selectivity and recyclability. It is found that this catalyst can be reused up to six cycles without loss of its original activities.