Nickel Schiff-base complexes immobilized on boehmite nanoparticles and their application in the oxidation of sulfides and oxidative coupling of thiols as novel and reusable nano organometal catalysts

Abstract

Boehmite nanoparticles were prepared by very simple and inexpensive procedure in water at room temperature using commercially available materials. Two Schiff-base complexes of nickel have been immobilized on the boehmite nanoparticles. These catalysts were characterized by FT-IR spectroscopy, TGA, XRD, BET, UV-DRS, TEM, SEM, EDS and ICP-OES techniques. These compounds were applied as catalysts for the oxidation of sulfides to sulfoxides and oxidative coupling of thiols to disulfides under mild reaction conditions at room temperature. These catalysts were recovered by simple filtration and reused several times without significant loss of their catalytic efficiency.