Silica functionalized Cu(II) catalysed selective oxidation of benzyl alcohols using TEMPO and molecular oxygen as an oxidant

A general scheme for the oxidation of benzyl alcohols catalyzed by silica functionalized copper (II) has been designed. TEMPO, a free radical, assists this oxidation that was initiated by molecular oxygen which converts it to a primary oxidant. This catalytic combination i.e. SiO 2 -Cu(II) in presence of TEMPO and oxygen provides excellent results in terms of yields and reaction time. SiO 2 -Cu(II) was very well characterized by different spectroscopic techniques such as FTIR, XRD, TGA, XPS, EDAX, SEM, TEM and AAS and is recyclable upto five times which makes it economically beneficial. Graphical Abstract This work deals with the oxidation of benzyl alcohols catalyzed by silica functionalized copper (II) and co-catalyzed by TEMPO using molecular oxygen as an oxidant. The catalytic system works very selectively and exclusively forming only aldehydes.