Grafting of oxo-vanadium Schiff base on graphenenanosheets and its catalytic activity for the oxidation of alcohols

Abstract

Graphene oxide was found to be a convenient and efficient supporting material for grafting of oxo-vanadium Schiff basevia covalent attachment. The low dimensionality and rich surface chemistry of graphene oxide play critical roles in order to achieve a good degree of such grafting. Catalytic potential of the so prepared graphene-bound oxo-vanadium Schiff base and comparison with its homogeneous analogue was studied for the oxidation of various alcohols to carbonyl compounds using tert-butylhydroperoxide as oxidant. The structural and chemical nature of the catalyst was characterized by a variety of techniques including XRD, FTIR, TGA, TEM, and ICP-AES. The immobilized complex was found to be highly efficient and showed comparable catalytic reactivity as its homogenous analogue with the added benefits of facile recovery and recycling of the heterogeneous catalyst. The graphene-bound oxo-vanadium Schiff base was successfully reused for several runs without significant loss in its catalytic activity.