Clay entrapped Cu(OH)x as an efficient heterogeneous catalyst for ipso-hydroxylation of arylboronic acids

•Montmorillonite-KSF encapsulated Cu(OH)x can be easily prepared from inexpensive materials without any need of sophisticated instruments.•This heterogeneous catalyst displayed high catalytic activity for ipso-hydroxylation reactions of arylboronic acids.•This catalyst can be recovered easily and reused several times without any significant loss of catalytic activity.•No leaching of the catalyst was observed.•This reaction needs very less time in aqueous medium.

A remarkably active, selective and stable montmorilonite-KSF entrapped Cu(OH)x catalyst, has been prepared for the ipso-hydroxylation of arylboronic acids under ambient conditions without requirement of any ligand or base. This catalyst shows excellent reusability without leaching and any significant loss in catalytic activity. The catalyst was characterized using, XRD, SEM, TPR, IR, XPS and BET surface area measurement techniques.

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