Highly efficient catalytic oxidation of cyclohexanol with TBHP over Cr-13X catalysts in a solvent-free system

•Simply prepared cheap Cr-13X catalyst is firstly used in the oxidation of cyclohexanol without any solvent and additive.•High utilization efficiency of oxidant (98.9%) can be achieved over Cr3+-exchanged 13X zeolite.•Reusable heterogeneous catalyst and mild environmental friendly reaction condition.

With respect to the consideration of environment and economy, simple, inexpensive, and reusable solid catalysts have been attracting much attention. In this work, a series of non-noble transition-metal ion-exchanged zeolite catalysts have been prepared and applied in the catalytic oxidation of cyclohexanol and other alcohols with tert-butyl hydroperoxide (TBHP) to aldehydes or ketones in the absence of any solvent and additive. Among various catalysts tested, Cr3+-exchanged 13X has exhibited the best activity with the highest efficiency of TBHP utilization, and been proven to be a recyclable heterogeneous catalyst for the oxidation of cyclohexanol with TBHP. The effects of the Cr loading, the reaction temperature, the reaction time, and the cyclohexanol/TBHP molar ratio have been investigated systematically. Furthermore, a feasible oxidation route is proposed.

Graphical abstractSimple, inexpensive, reusable, and highly efficient solid catalyst Cr-13X for the oxidation of cyclohexanol with TBHP into cyclohexanone in the absence of any solvent and additive.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload high-quality image (89 K)Download as PowerPoint slide