Selective aerobic oxidation of p-cresol with co-catalysts between metalloporphyrins and metal salts

A green and efficient method for the selective aerobic oxidation of p-cresol to p-hydroxybenzaldehyde catalyzed by co-catalysts between metalloporphyrins and metal salts was investigated and developed. The relationship between the synergistic catalytic effects and the composition as well as amount of co-catalysts was investigated. Moreover, the influence of different reaction conditions was studied in details. A high p-cresol conversion (> 99%) and p-hydroxybenzaldehyde selectivity (83%) were obtained using only 1.125 × 10− 5 mol T(p-CH3O)PPFeIIICl-Co(OAc)2 used under mild, optimized reaction conditions. A possible mechanism for the reaction was also proposed. This work would be meaningful and instructive for the further researches and applications of co-catalyst system on oxidation of cresols and could give some enlightenment on the selectively catalytic oxidation of the side-chain alkyls of aromatics.