Magnetic Polymer Nanoparticles Immobilized TEMPO For Selective Oxidation Of Aerobic Alcohols

Green chemistry, also called sustainable chemistry, is a philosophy of chemical research and engineering that encourages the design of products and processes that minimize the use and generation of hazardous substances. The oxidation of alcohols is one of the most important transformations in organic chemistry. Early protocols for this transformation relied on the use of stoichiometric oxidants such as chromium (VI) reagents. The development of new environmentally friendly methods for the selective catalytic oxidation of alcohol substrates to aldehydes and ketones is an important goal in the development of modern methods for chemical synthesis. Systems involving nitroxyl radicals such as2,2,6,6,-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl (TEMPO), have shown great efficiency for the selective oxidation of primary and secondary alcohols to the corresponding aldehydes and ketones with high yields and selectivities.In this paper we discussed the synthesis of a magnetic polymer supported TEMPO, and its application for the aerobic oxidation of primary alcohols using either sodium hypochlorite or molecular oxygen. The activity and selectivity of TEMPO were retained with the added advantages of a heterogeneous catalyst namely, ease of separation and purification, catalyst recovery and recycling.