Oxidation of cyclohexane in supercritical carbon dioxide catalyzed by iron tetraphenylporphyrin

Abstract The catalytic activities of 5,10,15,20-meso-tetraphenylporphyrinatechloroiron(III), [Fe(TPP)Cl], and 5,10,15,20-meso-tetraphenylporphyrinatechloroiron(III) encapsulated in zeolite Y, [Fe III (TPP)Y], were investigated using cyclohexane as substrate in supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO 2 ), using either tert -butyl-hydroperoxide ( t -BuOOH) or hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) as terminal oxidants. Using [Fe(TPP)Cl], in 2 h, at 0.724 g cm −3 , were obtained conversions of up to 26 turnover per hour. The selectivity with [Fe(TPP)Cl] was higher in scCO 2 than in organic solvents, of up to 15% cyclohexanol production. Lower conversions were observed with the “ship in a bottle” catalyst, [Fe(TPP)Y].