Replacement of Volatile Acetic Acid by Solid SiO2@COOH Silica (Nano)Beads for (Ep)Oxidation Using Mn and Fe Complexes Containing BPMEN Ligand

Mn and Fe BPMEN complexes showed excellent reactivity in catalytic oxidation with an excess of co-reagent (CH₃COOH). In the straight line of a cleaner catalytic system, volatile acetic acid was replaced by SiO₂ (nano)particles with two different sizes to which pending carboxylic functions were added (SiO₂@COOH). The SiO₂@COOH beads were obtained by the functionalization of SiO₂ with pending nitrile functions (SiO₂@CN) followed by CN hydrolysis. All complexes and silica beads were characterized by NMR, infrared, DLS, TEM, X-ray diffraction. The replacement of CH₃COOH by SiO₂@COOH (100 times less on molar ratio) has been evaluated for (ep)oxidation on several substrates (cyclooctene, cyclohexene, cyclohexanol) and discussed in terms of activity and green metrics.