Oxidation of 2-imidazolines to 2-imidazoles with sodium periodate catalyzed by polystyrene-bound manganese(III) porphyrin

Abstract

In the present work, the dehydrogenation of 2-substituted imidazolines with sodium periodate in the presence of tetraphenylporphyrinatomanganese(III) chloride supported on polystyrene-bound imidazole, [Mn(TPP)Cl@PSI] is reported. A wide variety of 2-imidazolines were efficiently converted to their corresponding imidazoles by the [Mn(TPP)Cl@PSI]/NaIO4 catalytic system in a 1:2 CH3CN/H2O mixture under agitation with magnetic stirring. Ultrasonic irradiation enhanced the catalytic activity of this catalyst in the oxidation of 2-imidazolines and this led to shorter reaction times and higher product yields. This catalyst could be reused several times without significant loss of its catalytic activity. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.