Synthesis, characterization, and catalytic oxidation of styrene, cyclohexene, allylbenzene, and cis-cyclooctene by recyclable polymer-grafted Schiff base complexes of vanadium(IV)

Schiff base-functionalized chloromethylated polystyrenes, PS-[Ae-Eol] (I), PS-[Hy-Eda] (II) and PS-[HyP-Eda] (III), were synthesized by reacting 2-(2-aminoethoxy)ethanol (Ae-Eol), N-(2-hydroxyethyl)ethylenediamine (Hy-Eda), and N-(2-hydroxpropyl)ethylenediamine (HyP-Eda) with oxidized chloromethylated polystyrene. Oxidized chloromethylated polystyrene (PS-CHO) was prepared by oxidation of chloromethylated polystyrene (PS) with sodium bicarbonate in DMSO. By reacting DMSO solution of [VO(acac)₂] with polymer-anchored Schiff base ligands I, II, and III, vanadium(IV) complexes PS-[V^IVO(Ae-Eol)] (1), PS-[V^IVO(Hy-Eda)] (2), and PS-[V^IVO(HyP-Eda)] (3) were prepared. Structure and bonding of I, II, and III as well as corresponding vanadium complexes 1, 2, and 3 were confirmed by FT-IR, UV–vis spectroscopy, SEM, EDX, AAS, TGA, EPR, etc. Polymer-anchored vanadium(IV) complexes 1, 2, and 3 show, efficient catalysis toward oxidation of styrene, cyclohexene, allylbenzene, and cis-cyclooctene in the presence of hydrogen peroxide. Optimized reaction conditions for the oxidation of these alkenes was achieved by changing various reaction parameters (like amount of catalyst, amount of oxidizing agent, volume of solvent, etc.). Polymer-grafted 1, 2, and 3 can be reused multiple times without depletion of their activity.