Sulfoxidation inside a hypercrosslinked microporous network nanotube catalyst

Abstract

In the present work, a kind of efficient heterogeneous catalyst was synthesized from amine-functionalized hypercrosslinked bottlebrush copolymers of microporous network nanotubes (amine-MNNs) and Na₂WO₄. The synthesized tungstate-supported microporous network nanotubes (TMNNs) catalyst was shown to be highly active in the selective H₂O₂ oxidation of sulfides to sulfoxides or sulfones under mild conditions due to the high specific surface area (800 m² g⁻¹) and firm structure of the nanotubes. The catalyst was found to be very stable and could be recycled at least 8 times without any significant loss of activity. These results present a new opportunity for the development of efficient green organic catalytic materials with high activity.