Synthesis of a reusable polymer anchored cobalt(II) complex for the aerobic oxidation of alkyl aromatics and unsaturated organic compounds

•Polymer supported cobalt catalyst was synthesized and characterized.•This catalyst is efficient for the aerobic oxidation of alkyl aromatics.•This catalyst is also effective for the aerobic epoxidation of olefins.•This catalyst can be recycled upto six times.

Polymer anchored cobalt(II) catalyst was synthesized and characterized. The solid catalyst was characterized by fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), UV–vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). The catalytic activity of the complex was investigated for the oxidative functionalization of alkyl aromatics to benzylic ketones using O2 (1 atm) with 1 mmol H2O2. The oxidation of organic compounds with carbon–carbon double bond with molecular oxygen under atmospheric pressure in the presence of this catalyst has also been studied. Oxidation of alkenes, cycloalkenes and terpenes gave corresponding epoxy derivatives. The developed catalyst can be facilely recovered and reused six times without significant decrease in its activity and selectivity.

Graphical abstractA new polymer anchored cobalt(II) catalyst has been synthesized and well characterized. The catalytic performance of this complex has been tested for the aerobic oxidation of alkyl aromatics and unsaturated organic compounds. The developed catalyst can be facilely recovered and reused six times without significant decrease in activity and selectivity.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide