A magnetic Fe@PANI catalyst for the selective oxidation of sulphide under mild and green conditions

Abstract

The selective oxidation of sulphide to sulfoxide is an important transformation process in the industry. In this work, a novel polyaniline-supported iron catalyst (Fe@PANI) was designed and synthesised for catalyzing the reaction. It was found that the material exhibited magnetism and could be recycled by magnetic separation and reused without deactivation. The magnetic Fe@PANI-catalyzed oxidation reaction of sulphides could selectively form sulfoxides without the generation of sulfones. The inexpensive catalyst and mild and green conditions make the reaction practical for large-scale applications.