Oxidation of benzyl alcohol using polymer anchored Ru(III) complex as catalyst

Polymer-anchored Ru(III) complex was synthesized by sequential attachment of ethylenediamine, salicylaldehyde and ruthenium chloride to chloromethylated styrene-divinylbenzene copolymer with 8% cross-linking. Synthesized catalyst was characterized by different techniques such as FTIR, reflectance UV-VIS spectroscopy, ESR, ESCA, SEM and TGA. Various physico-chemical properties such as moisture content, bulk density, surface area and swelling behaviour in different solvents were also studied. Catalytic activity of this catalyst was tested for oxidation of benzyl alcohol by varying the temperature of the system as well as concentration of substrate and catalyst. Values of energy of activation and entropy of activation have been evaluated from the kinetic data. A probable reaction mechanism has been proposed. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.