Liquid phase selective oxidation of veratryl alcohol to veratraldehyde using pure and Mg-doped copper chromite catalysts

Abstract

Mg-doped copper chromite (CuCr₂O₄) nanocomposites were synthesised through conventional technique. The pure and doped CuCr_2−xMg_x O₄ (x = 0.00–0.1, 0.2 and 0.3%) nanocomposites were characterized in terms of their morphology, crystal structure, surface area and catalytic performance. The chemical composition of CuCr_2−xMgx O₄ was confirmed via FT-IR. The formation of pure and doped catalysts was validated by XRD results. TEM/SEM confirmed the formation of CuCr_2−xMg_xO₄ nanoparticles. Mg-doped samples possess a high specific surface area compared to pure CuCr₂O₄. Thus, the effects of temperature, solvent, time, oxidant and the amount of catalyst on the oxidation of veratryl alcohol were reported. Furthermore, detailed mechanisms of the catalytic oxidation of veratryl alcohol as well as the reusability and stability of the nanomaterial were investigated. The resulting composites were shown to be effective heterogeneous catalysts for the oxidation of veratryl alcohol.