A polymer-anchored cobalt(II) complex as a reusable catalyst for oxidation of benzene,ethylbenzene and cyclohexane

A polymer-supported cobalt complex of 2,6-bis(benzimidazolyl)pyridine (BBP) was synthesized by immobilization of BBP on chloromethylated polystyrene cross-linked with 6.5 % divinylbenzene, followed by complexation with CoCl₂ in methanol, and characterized by physico-chemical and spectroscopic methods. The polymer-bound Co(PS–BBP)Cl₂ was found to be more stable compared to free Co(BBP)Cl₂ as determined by TGA analyses. The catalytic activity of Co(PS–BBP)Cl₂ was investigated towards oxidation of benzene, ethylbenzene and cyclohexane using tert-butylhydroperoxide as oxidant. At optimum conditions, benzene showed 72.6 % conversion with 100 % selectivity towards phenol; ethylbenzene exhibited 97.0 % conversion with 82.5 and 17.4 % selectivity towards benzaldehyde and acetophenone, respectively, whilst conversion of cyclohexane was 60.0 with 75.8 and 24.1 % selectivity towards cyclohexanol and cyclohexanone. The unsupported complex Co(BBP)Cl₂ showed lower activities and selectivities compared to the polymer-supported complex. Co(PS–BBP)Cl₂ was found to be very active and reusable, giving high yields of the desired products. A possible reaction mechanism is proposed for these oxidation reactions.