Nanorods of FeVO₄: An efficient heterogeneous catalyst for chemoselective oxidation of benzylic alcohols

ABSTRACT

Controllable fabrication of iron vanadate (FeVO₄) was achieved by the hydrothermal approach. The excellent catalytic activity of the prepared nanorods of iron vanadate for the oxidation of benzylic alcohols as well as its potential for oxidation of the benzylic sp3 C-Hs in the presence of urea hydrogen peroxide (UHP) as oxidant was reported. The prepared nanorods and nanospheres were fully characterized by FT-IR, XRD, EDAX, ICP-AES, SEM, and TEM. In the presence of the catalyst, alcohols chemoselectively (100%) convert to the corresponding aldehydes/ketones, giving a total turnover number about 380 for 10 consecutive runs.

KEYWORDS:

• Heterogeneous catalysis
• iron vanadate
• selective oxidation
• UHP

Funding

The authors would like to acknowledge the financial support provided by the Tarbiat Modares University for carrying out this research.