Host (nanocavity of zeolite Y)-guest (ruthenium(III) salophen complex) nanocomposite materials: An efficient and reusable catalyst for shape-selective epoxidation of linear alkenes with sodium periodate

•Encapsulation of ruthenium salophen on dealuminated zeolite Y.•A heterogeneous catalyst was prepared.•The catalyst was used for size selective epoxidation of alkenes.•The catalyst was reusable.

Zeolite-encapsulated ruthenium(III) salophen (ZERS) was prepared by flexible ligand method and characterized by diffuse reflectance FT-IR and UV–vis spectroscopic methods, X-ray diffraction, BET, SEM, TEM and elemental analysis. The amount of Ru-salophen in the zeolite supercages was 0.018 mmol/g of encapsulated zeolite. This catalyst was used for efficient and selective epoxidation of different alkenes with NaIO4 under magnetic stirring and ultrasonic irradiation conditions. This catalyst also showed a good shape-selectivity in the epoxidation of linear alkenes. This heterogeneous catalyst was reused several times without significant loss of its catalytic activity.

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