Aerobic Oxidations Catalyzed by Zeolite-Encapsulated Cobalt Salophen

Abstract

Cobalt salophen was encapsulated in a series of zeolites with a wide variation of the silicon-to-aluminium atomic ratio and with different cations. The zeolite-cobalt salophen catalysts were prepared using the “ship-in-a-bottle technique” where the complex was synthesized in the super cage of the zeolite and therefore locked into the pocket. The encapsulated catalysts were then tested in the aerobic oxidation of hydroquinone to p-benzoquinone; the best encapsulated catalyst was shown to be an efficient electron-transfer mediator in a palladium-catalyzed aerobic oxidative carbocyclization.