An aerobic oxidative synthesis of aryl nitriles and primary aryl amides from benzylic alcohols catalyzed by a polymer supported Cu(II) complex

A new polymer supported Cu(II) complex has been synthesized and characterized. The catalytic performance of the complex has been tested for the direct conversion of benzylic alcohols to aryl nitriles. In this reaction ammonium formate was used as the nitrogen source and O-2 as the oxidant. Furthermore, the copper-catalyzed one-pot synthesis of primary aryl amides from alcohols was also achieved. The effects of solvents, reaction time and catalyst amount for the aryl nitriles and aryl amides synthesis were reported. This catalyst showed excellent catalytic activity and recyclability. The polymer supported Cu(II) catalyst could be easily recovered by filtration and reused more than five times without appreciable loss of its initial activity.