Selective photocatalytic oxidation of aromatic alcohols to aldehydes with air by magnetic WO3ZnO/Fe3O4. In situ photochemical synthesis of 2-substituted benzimidazoles

Abstract

Recently, visible light-driven organic photochemical synthesis has been a pioneering field of interest from academic and industrial associations due to its unique features of green and sustainable chemistry. Herein, WO₃ZnO/Fe₃O₄ was synthesized, characterized, and used as an efficient magnetic photocatalyst in the preparation of a range of 2-substituted benzimidazoles via the condensation of benzyl alcohol and o-phenylenediamine in ethanol at room temperature for the first time. The key feature of this work is focused on the in situ photocatalytic oxidation of benzyl alcohols to benzaldehydes under atmospheric air and in the absence of any further oxidant. This new heterogeneous nanophotocatalyst was characterized via XRD, FT-IR, VSM and SEM. Short reaction time, cost-effectiveness, broad substrate scope, easy work-up by an external magnet, and excellent product yield are the major advantages of the present methodology. A number of effective experimental parameters were also fully investigated to clear broadness and generality of the protocol.