Immobilized Co(acac)2 on modified Fe3O4 nanoparticles as a magnetically separable epoxidation catalyst

Fe3O4 nanoparticles were prepared and modified with (3-aminopropyl) trimethoxysilane (APTMS) followed by complexation with Co(acac)(2). The prepared nanocatalyst, designated as Fe3O4@APTMS@Co(acac)(2) was characterized by FTIR, XRD, SEM, and TEM techniques. It was found that Fe3O4@APTMS@Co(acac)(2) successfully catalyzes the epoxidation of cyclooctene, styrene, cyxlohexene, trans-stilbene, and norbornene with O-2 as an oxidant and isobutyraldehyde (RCHO) as a co-reductant with 48-100 % reactivity and 40-92 % selectivity.