Silica supported Ru(salophen)Cl: An efficient and robust heterogeneous catalyst for epoxidation of alkenes with sodium periodate

Abstract

In the present work, heterogenization of Ru(salophen)Cl via its axial ligation to silica-bound imidazole, SiIm, is reported. The heterogeneous catalyst, [Ru(salophen)Cl-SiIm], was characterized by elemental analysis, SEM, TEM, FT-IR and diffuse reflectance UV-Vis spectroscopic techniques. The catalyst, which is not soluble in water and common organic solvents, was used for efficient epoxidation of cyclic and linear alkenes with NaIO4 under agitation with magnetic stirring. This new heterogenized catalyst is of high stability and reusability in the oxidation reactions. The effect of reaction parameters such as solvent and oxidant in the epoxidation of cis-cyclooctene were also investigated. © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.