Enhanced reactivity in a heterogeneous oxido-peroxido molybdenum(VI) complex of salicylidene 2-picoloyl hydrazone in catalytic epoxidation of olefins

A molybdenum(VI) oxido-diperoxido complex of salicylidene 2-picoloyl hydrazine (sal-phz) was synthesized and successfully grafted onto chloro-functionalised Fe3O4 nanoparticles. The resulting heterogeneous and magnetically recoverable nanoscale catalyst MoO3(sal-phz)/Fe3O4 was characterized by physicochemical and spectroscopic techniques. The activity of this heterogeneous catalyst for the oxidation of olefins to corresponding epoxides was efficiently increased by increasing the reaction temperature up to 95 °C. The nanocatalyst proved to be efficient for the selective epoxidation of a variety of alkenes using t-BuOOH with high conversion and selectivity. Leaching and recycling tests showed that the nanocatalyst can be reused at least six times without significant decrease in efficiency.