Oxidative Cleavage of Vicinal Diols Catalyzed by Monomeric Fe‐Sites Inside MFI Zeolite

Abstract

AbstractThe oxidative cleavage of vicinal diols to carboxylic acids was investigated over heterogeneous Fe/MFI catalysts in aqueous medium, with green oxidant H2O2 and in mild reaction conditions. High conversions and selectivities (X=90 %, S=79 %) were achieved for the oxidative cleavage of ethylene glycol. Further substrates were also tested broadening the relevance of this catalyst. The employment of non‐noble and abundant Fe as the active metal and the MFI‐type zeolite as support has a clear advantage over the presently used homogeneous or noble metal‐based catalysts. A combination of complementary characterisation techniques with catalytic results is used to show that monomeric Fe species inside zeolite MFI are the active sites for the oxidative cleavage of C−C bonds of vicinal diols. The recyclability of the catalyst and reaction mechanism were also studied.