Abstract:
Keggin-type Cs salt of Mn (II)-substituted mono-lacunary phosphotungstate supported on mesoporous silica, a novel catalyst exhibited excellent activity towards solvent free oxidation reactions. The catalyst materials were fully characterized by different techniques including XRD, BET analysis, TG-DTA, Raman spectra, FF-IR and XPS. While XPS study shown the presence of Mn (II) on the material, the existence of Keggin structure even after modification was confirmed by XRD and FT-IR data. Excellent conversion and selectivity were achieved in selective oxidation of benzyl alcohol to benzaldehyde. Optimum reaction conditions were established with respect to various parameters that influence the selective oxidation. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.