Magnetically recoverable copper oxide catalysts for aerobic allylic oxidation of cyclohexene

•PVA-stabilized copper oxide NPs were used to obtain heterogeneous catalysts.•Aerobic oxidation of cyclohexene into α,β-unsaturated derivatives.•Effecient catalyst recovery and negligible metal leaching.

Magnetically recoverable copper oxide catalysts prepared by sol-immobilization method exhibited interesting properties for the allylic oxidation of cyclohexene with molecular oxygen as the sole oxidant. The catalysts were prepared by immobilization of pre-synthesized PVA (polyvinyl alcohol)-stabilized Cu2O nanoparticles (NPs) on a magnetically recoverable support; the catalyst was further oxidized to CuO NPs after calcination at 600 °C. Both catalysts can selectively oxidize cyclohexene through allylic oxidation to give 2-cyclohexene-1-one as the main product, but CuO was identified as the most active species providing 90% cyclohexene conversion and 96% selectivity for allylic products under 100 °C and 4 bar pressure of O2 for 6 h of reaction time. The catalysts were magnetically recovered without metal leaching and could be reused in at least six consecutive runs.

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