Sulfamic acid-functionalized nano-titanium dioxide as an efficient, mild and highly recyclable solid acid nanocatalyst for chemoselective oxidation of sulfides and thiols

A highly efficient and retrievable titanium dioxide-based nanocatalyst has been synthesized by covalent grafting of chlorosulfonic acid on amine-functionalized titania as a novel inorganic–organic hybrid heterogeneous nanocatalyst, which was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The acid strength of the catalyst was determined by pH analysis and the Hammett acidity function. The potential of the resultant nanocatalyst was effectively evaluated for the chemoselective oxidation of sulfides to sulfoxides and thiols to disulfides using 30% H2O2 as an oxidant at room temperature under solvent-free conditions, which led to high conversion rates and yields. Optimization of the reaction conditions was studied by central composite design (CCD), which is one of the most widely used response surface methodologies. The catalyst can be easily recycled up to 10 times without significant decrease in catalytic activity, which makes it a promising catalyst for practical and large-scale applications. This work is the first report that uses 2,4-toluene diisocyanate as a linker for immobilizing liquid acid on a support.