Immobilization of a molybdenum complex with tetradentate ligand on mesoporous material MCM-41 as catalyst for epoxidation of olefins

Covalent grafting of MCM-41 with 3-chloropropyl trimethoxysilane and subsequent reaction respectively with acacdien and complexation with MoO2(acac)2 afforded MoO2acacdien@MCM-41. X-ray diffraction and nitrogen sorption analyses revealed the preservation of the textural properties of the support as well as accessibility of the channel system despite sequential reduction in surface area, pore volume and pore size. Elemental analyses showed nearly complete complexation of the supported ligands and the presence of 0.24 mmol molybdenum per gram of the catalyst. Epoxidation of cyclooctene, 1-hexene and 1-octene in the presence of MoO2acacdien@MCM-41 with tert-butyl hydroperoxide (TBHP) were carried out with relatively good conversion in the mild reaction conditions.