Studies of catalytic aerobic oxidation with nanostructured amorphous metals, alloys and metal oxides

The oxidation of cyclohexane with molecular oxygen in the presence of isobutyraldehyde catalyzed by nanostructured iron and cobalt oxides and iron oxide supported on titania has been studied. It was found that highly dispersed transition metal oxide is more effective for oxidation than the corresponding zero-valent metal powders. Nanostructured cobalt oxide on MCM-41 is found to be efficient for catalytic aerobic epoxidation of olefins. The catalyst is reusable and gives moderate to high regio- and stereoselectivity.