Issue 1, 2015

Peroxoniobium(v)-catalyzed selective oxidation of sulfides with hydrogen peroxide in water: a sustainable approach

Abstract

An efficient and eco-compatible route for the selective oxidation of a variety of thioethers to the corresponding sulfoxide or sulfone with 30% aqueous H2O2 in water, using newly synthesized peroxoniobium (pNb) complexes as catalysts, is described. The catalysts with formulas Na2[Nb(O2)3(arg)]·2H2O (arg = arginate) (NbA) and Na2[Nb(O2)3(nic)(H2O)]·H2O (nic = nicotinate) (NbN) have been synthesized from the reaction of sodium tetraperoxoniobate with 30% H2O2 and the respective organic ligand in an aqueous medium, and these have been comprehensively characterized by elemental analysis, spectral studies (FTIR, Raman, 1H NMR, 13C NMR and UV-vis), EDX analysis and TGA-DTG analysis. The density functional theory (DFT) method has been used to investigate the structure of the synthesized pNb complexes. The catalysts are physiologically safe and can be reused for at least six reaction cycles without losing their activity or selectivity. The oxidation is chemoselective for sulfides or sulfoxides leaving the C[double bond, length as m-dash]C or alcoholic moiety unaffected. The developed methodologies, apart from being high yielding and straightforward, are completely free from halogen, organic co-solvent, or co-catalysts.

Graphical abstract: Peroxoniobium(v)-catalyzed selective oxidation of sulfides with hydrogen peroxide in water: a sustainable approach

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
04 Jul 2014
Accepted
19 Sep 2014
First published
19 Sep 2014

Catal. Sci. Technol., 2015,5, 595-610

Author version available

Peroxoniobium(V)-catalyzed selective oxidation of sulfides with hydrogen peroxide in water: a sustainable approach

S. R. Gogoi, J. J. Boruah, G. Sengupta, G. Saikia, K. Ahmed, K. K. Bania and N. S. Islam, Catal. Sci. Technol., 2015, 5, 595 DOI: 10.1039/C4CY00864B

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