Catalyzing the Oxidation of Alcohols to Aldehydes with an Efficient Zr-based Metal-Organic Framework

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) as zeolite analogues with permanent porosity and absorption capacity are a class of hybrid functional materials that are self-assembled by the coordination of metal cations with organic linkers. MOFs have received considerable attention due to their high surface area, well-defined structure and chemical tenability. These unique properties enable myriad applications in various fields such as catalysis, gas storage, separation, drug delivery, and chemical sensing.

The title material are among the first examples of Zr(IV)-based UiO (University of Oslo) MOFs with coordinative unsaturated active metal centers.

From both synthetic and industrial points of view, Liquid-phase oxidation of alcohols is a very attractive reaction for the preparation of intermediates and fine chemicals. A case in point is the oxidation of primary alcohols to aldehydes which is a fundamentally important reaction in both laboratory and commercial scales.

The oxidation of alcohols has been traditionally achieved with stoichiometric amounts of inorganic oxidants. In this work, Zr-benzenedicarboxylate (UiO-66) is successfully synthesized via a facile solvothermal approach and applied to oxidation reactions as a catalyst.

(UiO-66) is a recyclable and efficient heterogeneous catalyst for oxidation of primary and secondary alcohols to benzaldehydes. Using aqueous hydrogen peroxide as an oxidant in CH₃CN, the reaction was investigated. The synthesized sample is characterized by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), BET surface area and Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA).