Catalytic study of highly recoverable chitosan supported Cu(II) Schiff base complex for alkanes oxidation

We have synthesized a chitosan anchored Cu(II) Schiff base heterogeneous catalyst. Schiff base ligand was prepared by condensation of chitosan (Cs) with ortho-hydroxyl acetophenone (OHACP).It is abbreviated as [Cs-OHACP]. Then Cu(II) heterogeneous catalyst{Cu(II)[Cs-OHACP]Cl2} was prepared by the reaction of [Cs-OHACP] and cupric chloride. The synthesized catalyst, {Cu(II)[Cs-OHACP]Cl2} was characterized byscanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX), Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) surface area, X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), Ultraviolet visible near-infrared (UV–VIS–NIR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and density functional theory (DFT) studies. The catalytic performance of heterogeneous catalyst was tested for alkane oxidation using 70% tert-butylhydroperoxide (TBHP) as an oxidant. The influencing factors that affect the rate of reaction such as various oxidants, solvents, reaction time, molar ratio of tetralin to oxidant, catalyst amount and reaction temperature were investigated for optimization of alkane oxidation. The heterogeneous catalyst {Cu(II)[Cs-OHACP]Cl2} is easy to separate, handle and recover. It was recycled seven times.