Synthesis of a Novel Manganese(III) Porphyrin and Its Catalytic Role in Selective Oxidation of Aromatic Alcohols

A novel azido complex of manganese(III) porphyrin with 1-methylimidazole has been synthesized. This complex can be abbreviated as [MnIII(THMPP)N3(1-MeIm)], where THMPP  is  5,10,15,20-tetrakis(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)porphine and 1-MeIm is 1-methylimidazole. The complex has been characterized by UV-visible, FT-IR, ESI-MS spectra, elemental analysis, and magnetic susceptibility. The tentative structure has been proposed to be octahedral. The catalytic activity of the complex synthesized has been studied using different oxidants in the selective oxidation of aromatic alcohols to aldehydes. The selectively transformed products have been obtained under room conditions and short time period in high yields.