[PZnMo2W9O39]5− immobilized on ionic liquid-modified silica as a heterogeneous catalyst for epoxidation of olefins with hydrogen peroxide

The epoxidation of alkenes with hydrogen peroxide catalyzed by [PZnMo2W9O39]5-, ZnPOM, supported on ionic liquid-modified silica, Im-SiO2, is reported. The immobilized catalyst, [ZnPOM@Im-SiO2] was characterized by elemental analysis, X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), FT-IR and UV–Vis spectroscopic methods. This new synthesized hybrid catalyst was applied for efficient epoxidation of various olefins with aqueous H2O2 in acetonitrile under reflux conditions. This solid catalyst can be easily recovered by simple filtration and reused several times without significant loss of its catalytic activity.