Micellar catalysis for partial oxidation of toluene to benzoic acid in supercritical CO2: effects of fluorinated surfactants

One of the key hindrances on development of solid catalysts containing cobalt species for partial oxidation of organic molecules at mild conditions in conventional liquid phase is the severe metal leaching. The leached soluble Co species with a higher degree of freedom always out-performs those of solid supported Co species in oxidation catalysis. However, the homogeneous Co species concomitantly introduces separation problems. We have recently reponed for the first time, a new oxidation catalyst system for the oxidation of organic molecules in supercritical CO2 using the principle of micellar catalysis. [CF3(CF2)(8)COO](2)Co.xH(2)O (the fluorinated anionic moiety forms aqueous reverse micelles carrying water-soluble Co2+ cations in scCO(2)) was previously shown to be extremely active for the oxidation of toluene in the presence of sodium bromide in water-CO2 mixture, giving 98% conversion and 99% selectivity to benzoic acid at 120 degreesC. In this study, we show that the effects of varying the type of surfactant counterions and the length of the surfactant chains on catalysis. It is found that the use of [CF3(CF2)(8)COO](2)Mg.yH(2)O/Co(II) acetate is as effective as the [CF3(CF2)(8)COO](2)Co.xH(2)O and the fluorinated chain length used has a subtle effect on the catalytic rate measured. It is also demonstrated that this new type of micellar catalyst in scCO(2) can be easily separated via CO2 depressurisation and be reused without noticeable deactivation. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The partial oxidation of methane over Pd/Al2O3 catalyst nanoparticles studied in-situ by near ambient-pressure x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy

Near ambient-pressure X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (NAP-XPS) is used to study the chemical state of methane oxidation catalysts in-situ. Al2O3{supported Pd catalysts are prepared with different particle sizes ranging from 4 nm to 10 nm. These catalysts were exposed to conditions similar to those used in the partial oxidation of methane (POM) to syn-gas and simultaneously monitored by NAP-XPS and mass spectrometry. NAP-XPS data show changes in the oxidation state of the palladium as the temperature in- creases, from metallic Pd0 to PdO, and back to Pd0. Mass spectrometry shows an increase in CO production whilst the Pd is in the oxide phase, and the metal is reduced back under presence of newly formed H2. A particle size effect is observed, such that CH4 conversion starts at lower temperatures with larger sized particles from 6 nm to 10 nm. We find that all nanoparticles begin CH4 conversion at lower temperatures than polycrystalline Pd foil.

Poly(ethylene glycol)-supported nitroxyls: branched catalysts for the selective oxidation of alcohols

Nitroxyl radicals such as 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl (TEMPO) are highly selective oxidation catalysts for the conversion of primary alcohols into the corresponding aldehydes. In this study, direct tethering of TEMPO units onto linear poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) has afforded macromolecular catalysts that exhibit solubility in both aqueous and organic solvents. Recovery of the dissolved polymer-supported catalyst has been carried out by precipitation with a suitable solvent such as diethyl ether. The high catalyst activities and selectivities associated traditionally with nitroxyl-mediated oxidations of alcohols are retained by the series of "linker-less" linear PEG-TEMPO catalysts in which the TEMPO moiety is coupled directly to the PEG support. Although the selectivity remains unaltered, upon recycling of the linker-less polymer-supported catalysts, extended reaction times are required to maintain high yields of the desired carbonyl compounds. Alternatively, attachment of two nitroxyl radicals onto each functionalized PEG chain terminus via a 5-hydroxyisophthalic acid linker affords branched polymer-supported catalysts. In stark contrast to the linker-less catalysts, these branched nitroxyls exhibit catalytic activities up to five times greater than 4-methoxy-TEMPO alone under similar conditions. In addition, minimal decrease in catalytic activity is observed upon recycling of these branched macromolecular catalysts via solvent-induced precipitation. The high catalytic activities and preservation of activity upon recycling of these branched systems is attributed to enhanced regeneration of the nitroxyl species as a result of intramolecular syn-proportionation.

One-step catalytic cyclohexane oxidation to adipic acid using molecular oxygen

Using combination of Mn-Co transition metal species with N-hydroxyphthalimide as a catalyst for one-step oxidation of cyclohexane with molecular oxygen in acetic acid at 353 K can give more than 95% selectivity towards oxygenated products with adipic acid as a major product at a high conversion (ca. 78%). A turnover number of 74 for this partial oxidation are also recorded.

Role of ligands in catalytic water oxidation by mononuclear ruthenium complexes

Since first reported in 2005, mononuclear ruthenium water oxidation catalysts have attracted a great deal of attention due to their catalytic performance and synthetic flexibility. In particular, ligands coordinated to a Ru metal centre play an important role in the catalytic mechanisms, exhibiting significant impact on catalyst efficiency, stability and activity towards water oxidation. This review focuses on finding possible correlations between the ligand effects and activity of mononuclear Ru aqua and non-aqua complexes as water oxidation catalysts. The ligand effects highlighted in the text include the electronic nature of core ligands and their substituents, the trans–cis effect, steric hindrance and the strain effect, the net charge effect, the geometric arrangement of the aqua ligand and the supramolecular effects, e.g., hydrogen bonding and influence of a pendant base. The outcome is not always obvious at the present knowledge level. Deeper understanding of the ligand effects, based on new input data, is mandatory for further progress towards a rational development of novel catalysts featuring enhanced activity in water oxidation.

Concomitant polymorphism of an antiferromagnetically coupled dicopper(II,II) complex with single strand helical assembly: synthesis, structure, DSC, magnetic and heterogeneous catalytic studies

Two concomitant polymorphic coordination complexes (dark blue - I and black - II) with the formula (Cu2C44H60N4O4) have been synthesized and characterized crystallographically. Magnetic measurements show the presence of a strong antiferromagnetic interaction and the 2J value corresponds extremely well to the theoretically calculated one, indicating the fact that it follows nicely the magneto-structural relationship. Immobilization of the copper(II) complex I on a 2D-hexagonal mesoporous silica showed good catalytic efficiency in the liquid phase partial oxidation of olefins in the presence of TBHP as an oxidant. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Thiolated mucoadhesive and PEGylated nonmucoadhesive organosilica nanoparticles from 3-Mercaptopropyltrimethoxysilane

A novel approach has been developed to synthesize thiolated sub-100 nm organosilica nanoparticles from 3-mercaptopropyltrimethoxysilane (MPTS) through its self-condensation in dimethylsulfoxide in contact with atmospheric oxygen. The formation of MPTS nanoparticles proceeds through the condensation of methoxysilane groups and simultaneous disulfide bridging caused by partial oxidation of thiol groups. These nanoparticles showed excellent colloidal stability in dilute aqueous dispersions but underwent further self-assembly into chains and necklaces at higher concentrations. They exhibited very good ability to adhere to ocular mucosal surfaces, which can find applications in drug delivery. The thiolated nanoparticles could also be easily modified through PEGylation resulting in a loss of their mucoadhesive properties.

Partial aerial oxidation of nonpolar alcohols over Teflon-modified noble metal catalysts in supercritical carbon dioxide

We have reported earlier that modification of commercial graphite Pt-supported catalysts with Teflon fluorinated polymeric coating of a very strong hydrophobic nature can significantly improve catalytic activity for aerial oxidation of water-insoluble alcohols such as anthracene methanol in supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO(2)). Thus, this paper presents some further characterization of these new catalyst materials and the working fluid phase during the catalysis. Using the same Teflon-modified metal catalysts, this paper addresses the oxidation of another water-insoluble alcohol molecule, m-hydrobenzoin in scCO(2). It is found that conversion and product distribution of this diol oxidation critically depend on the temperature and pressure of the scCO(2) used, which suggest the remarkable solvent properties of the scCO(2) under these unconventional oxidation conditions. (C) 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Polymer-supported nitroxyl catalysts for selective oxidation of alcohols

Novel non-toxic poly(ethylene glycol)-supported 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl (TEMPO) moieties are demonstrated to give an excellent interfacial catalysis for the selective oxidation of alcohols to the corresponding carbonyl species in biphasic media and investigation for the recovery of these new macromolecular catalysts via precipitation with diethyl ether after catalysis has also been briefly studied.

High activity supported gold catalysts by incipient wetness impregnation

It is generally thought that catalysts produced by incipient wetness impregnation (IW) are very poor for low temperature CO oxidation, and that it is necessary to use methods such as deposition-precipitation (DP) to make high activity materials. The former is true, indeed such IW catalysts are poor, and we present reactor data, XPS and TEM analysis which show that this is due to the very negative effect of the chloride anion involved in the preparation, which results in poisoning and excessive sintering of the Au particles. With the DP method, the chloride is largely removed during the preparation and so poisoning and sintering are avoided. However, we show here that, contrary to previous considerations, high activity catalysts can indeed be prepared by the incipient wetness method, if care is taken to remove the chloride ion during the process. This is achieved by using the double impregnation method (DIM). In this a double impregnation of chloroauric acid and a base are made to precipitate out gold hydroxide within the pores of the catalyst, followed by limited washing. This results in a much more active catalyst, which is active for CO oxidation at ambient temperature. The results for DIM and DP are compared, and it is proposed that the DIM method may represent an environmentally and economically more favorable route to high activity gold catalyst production. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Catalytic oxidation of alcohols using molecular oxygen mediated by poly(ethylene glycol)-supported nitroxyl radicals

The selective catalytic oxidation of alcohols over a mixture of copper(l) chloride and a number of linear 'linker-less' or 'branched' poly(ethylene glycol)-supported nitroxyl radicals of the 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-piperidine-1-oxyl (TEMPO) family as a catalyst system has been investigated in the presence of molecular oxygen in a batch reactor. It is found that the activity profile of the polymer-supported nitroxyl radicals is in good agreement with that of low-molecular weight nitroxyl catalysts, for example, allylic and benzylic alcohols are oxidised faster than aliphatic alcohols. The oxidations can be tuned to be highly selective such that aldehydes are the only oxidation products observed in the oxidation of primary alcohols and the oxidations of secondary alcohols yield the corresponding ketones. A strong structural effect of the polymeric nitroxyl species on catalytic activity that is dependent upon their spatial orientation of the nitroxyl radicals is particularly noted. The new soluble macromolecular catalysts can be recovered readily from the reaction mixture by solvent precipitation and filtration. In addition, the recycled catalysts demonstrate a similar selectivity with only a small decrease in activity compared to the fresh catalyst even after five repetitive cycles. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Novel supramolecular network in tri- and mono-nuclear oxovanadium(V)-salicyl-hydroximate: Synthesis, structure and catalytic oxidation of hydrocarbons using H2O2 as terminal oxidant

oxovanadium(V) salicylhydroximate complexes, [VO(SHA)(H2O)]center dot 1.58H(2)O (1) and [V3O3(CSHA)(3) (H2O)(3)]center dot 3CH(3)COCH(3) (2) have been synthesized by reaction of VO43- with N-salicyl hydroxamic acid (SHAHS) and N-(5-chlorosalicyl) hydroxamic acid (CSHAH(3)), respectively, in methanol medium. Compound 1 on reaction with pyridine 2,6-dicarboxylic acid (PyDCH2) yields mononuclear complex [VO(SHAH(2))(PyDC)] (3). Treatment of compound 3 with hydrogen peroxide at low pH (2-3) and low temperature (0-5 degrees C) yields a stable oxoperoxovanadium(V) complex H[VO(O-2)(PyDC)(H2O)]center dot 2.5H(2)O (4). All four complexes (1-4) have been characterized by spectroscopic (IR, UV-Vis, V-51 NMR) and single crystal X-ray analyses. Intermolecular hydrogen bonds link complex 1 into hexanuclear clusters consisting of six {VNO5} octahedra surrounded by twelve {VNO5} octahedra to form an annular ring. While the molecular packing in 2 generates a two-dimensional framework hydrogen bonds involving the solvent acetone molecules, the mononuclear complexes 3 and 4 exhibit three-dimensional supramolecular architecture. The compounds 1 and 2 behave as good catalysts for oxygenation of benzylic, aromatic, carbocyclic and aliphatic hydrocarbons to their corresponding hydroxylated and oxygenated products using H2O2 as terminal oxidant; the process affords very good yield and turnover number. The catalysis work shows that cyclohexane is a very easily oxidizable substrate giving the highest turnover number (TON) while n-hexane and n-heptane show limited yield, longer time involvement and lesser TON than other hydrocarbons. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The role of impurities on the low temperature CO oxidation on Au/TiO2

A number of Au/TiO2 catalysts have been prepared by a variety of methods in order to assess the affect of catalysts preparation methods on performance, catalyst contamination and the interplay between them. Their activity was studied in a pulse flow microreactor and it was found that preparation methods designed to eliminate impurities lead to more active samples. The effect of chlorine is often cited to be detrimental in the literature, but we have quantified it using XPS. It was found that the activity decreased in a nearly linear fashion with an increasing amount of this element at the surface. It is generally considered that catalysts prepared by the incipient wetness (IW) technique are ineffective for CO oxidation, but we show here that, by appropriate preparation methods, high activity IW catalysts can be made.