Selective oxidation of benzyl alcohol catalyzed by Cr(salen) complexes immobilized on MCM-41

A series of Cr(salen) complexes immobilized on MCM-41 via four typical linkers was more effective catalysts for the selective oxidation of benzyl alcohol to benzaldehyde than their neat analogue. Simultaneously, the complex-immobilized materials also exhibited significant differences in their catalytic performance due to their different linker flexibility and coordination abilities of terminal functional groups in linkers.