Novel dicopper(II)-tetracarboxylates as catalysts for selective oxidation of benzyl alcohols with aqueous TBHP

A few dicopper(II) tetracarboxylate complexes viz. [Cu-2(mu-O2CC6H5)(4)(4-Etpy)(2)] (1), [Cu-2(mu-O2CC6H5)(4)(4-DMAP)(2)] (2), [Cu-2(mu-O2CC6H5)(4)(4-CNpy)(2)] (3) and [Cu-2(mu-O2CCH3)(4)(4-CNpy)(2)] (4) have been utilised as catalysts for oxidation of benzyl alcohols using aqueous tert-butyl hydroperoxide as the oxidant Complexes 1 and 2 have shown better catalytic activity than the other two. Unlike other catalysts, these dicopper complexes can catalyse oxidation of alcohols at a very low concentration (0.5 mol%). (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.