Zeolite-Y entrapped bivalent transition metal complexes as hybrid nanocatalysts: density functional theory investigation and catalytic aspects

The intriguing research toward the exploitation of zeolite-Y-based hybrid nanocatalysts for catalytic oxidation reactions has been growing significantly. In the present investigation, we describe the synthesis of zeolite-Y entrapped transition metal complexes of the general formulae [M(SFCH)·xH₂O]-Y (where, M = Mn, Fe, Co, Ni (x = 3) and Cu (x = 1)); H₂SFCH = (E)-N′-(2-hydroxybenzylidene)furan-2-carbohydrazide]. These nanocatalysts have been characterized by various physicochemical techniques. Density functional theory calculations are performed to address the relaxed geometry, bond angle, bond length, dihedral angle, highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO)–lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) energy gap, and electronic density of states of H₂SFCH ligand and their neat transition metal complexes. The observed HOMO–LUMO gap and the Fermi energy is higher for Cu(II) complexes, which demonstrates the better catalytic activity of this nanocatalyst. The catalytic activity was performed in liquid-phase oxidation of cyclohexane using hydrogen peroxide as oxidant to give cyclohexanone (CyONE) and cyclohexanol (CyOL). Among them, [Cu(SFCH)·H₂O]-Y catalyst has the highest selectivity toward CyONE (84.5%).