Highly efficient epoxidation of alkenes with m-chloroperbenzoic acid catalyzed by nanomagnetic Co(III)@Fe3O4/SiO2 salen complex

A new type of heterogeneous Co(III) complex was synthesized by covalent grafting of homogeneous Co(III) salen complex onto the surface of Fe3O4/SiO2 nanoparticle (NP). The heterogeneous nanocatalyst was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier transform infrared spectra (FT-IR), atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS), vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) and nitrogen adsorption–desorption isotherm (BET). The catalytic activity was investigated for the epoxidation of alkenes using m-chloroperbenzoic acid as oxidant at room temperature and the corresponding epoxide was achieved with excellent yields and selectivity. In addition, the effect of axial ligand was studied on the epoxidation reaction and pyridine N-oxide (PNO) was chosen as an excellent axial ligand in dichloromethane. Furthermore, the heterogeneous catalyst showed good stability and the magnetic properties (which made possible the easy recovery of catalyst with external magnet) without significant decrease in the activity in the epoxidation reaction.