Advancing Sustainable Manufacturing through a Heterogeneous Cobalt Catalyst for Selective C–H Oxidation

An increasingly important chemical transformation that will be necessary as we move toward sustainable manufacturing is the oxidation of C–H bonds. Our reported robust heterogeneous cobalt water oxidation catalyst, formed from a metal carbonyl phosphine complex as precursor, is now shown to be active for the selective oxidation of C–H bonds. Of 10 oxidants tested, only Oxone and its oxidatively active component KHSO5 proved competent. A wide variety of substrates were effectively oxidized with KHSO5, including heterocycles, alkyl arenes, alcohols, alkenes, and alkanes. The catalyst is highly selective for C–H bonds over water oxidation when the reaction is conducted in aqueous media. The catalyst can be recycled with minimal loss of activity while under N2. Preliminary mechanistic data are also discussed.