Polymer-supported eosin Y as a reusable photocatalyst for visible light mediated organic transformations

Abstract

A novel polymer-supported recyclable photocatalyst has been developed for visible light mediated oxidation reactions. The organic dye eosin Y was loaded on macroporous commercially available Amberlite IRA 900 chloride resin and exploited as a photocatalyst for visible light mediated oxidation of thioethers to sulfoxides and phenylboronic acids to phenols under open atmospheric air. Varieties of functional groups were well tolerated during oxidation. The catalyst is recyclable for six cycles without significant loss in its efficiency. Furthermore, gram-scale oxidation of sulfides to sulfoxides has been demonstrated to prove the commercial viability of the method.