RuO2 supported on MOF-derived CeO2 as an efficient catalyst for selective C–H oxidation of alkylarenes in water at room temperature

Abstract

Recently, MOFs as an important class of porous crystalline materials are widely utilized as carriers or catalysts in various catalytic systems. In this work, using Ce-BTC supported RuCl3 as a precursor, RuO2–CeO2 composites with high catalytic performance and excellent morphology were successfully synthesized by pyrolysis under ambient atmosphere. An efficient oxidation method for benzyl sp3 C–H bond using the synthesized composites as a heterogeneous catalyst was developed, which could effectively catalyze the selective oxidation of alkylarenes in water at room temperature, and successfully provide a variety of aryl ketone products in high yields with low catalyst dosage. The characterized results indicate that the existence of Ru (IV) is supported. The synthesized RuO2–CeO2 exhibits high activity for the gram-scale oxidation of indane with the lower ruthenium loading (3,837 h−1 TOF based on Ru). Furthermore, the heterogeneous catalyst could be utilized at least six cycles without significant loss of catalytic activity.