The catalytic activity of silica supported Schiff base metal complexes have been studied for the oxidation of benzyl alcohol, using hydrogen peroxide, which gave benzaldehyde as a major product. Silica supported Schiff base complexes gave better results compared to unsupported Schiff base complexes. Schiff base metal complexes such as Cr(VI), Mo(VI) and W(VI) have played significant role to enhance their conversion and selectivity. Among these Cr(VI) showed better conversion.

Various loadings of copper supported on MoO3/SiO2 (CMS) were prepared by sol-gel method and used for the synthesis of substituted benzimidazole. Further it was characterized by using X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDX), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), and acidity measurement by potentiometric method. XRD results indicated that Cu is present on the support primarily as CuO. The SEM and TEM results showed dispersion of cubic CuO nanoparticles on the surface. These mixed oxides were studied for the acylation of o-phenylene diamine with acetic acid in liquid phase. 10 wt. % CMS gave best results at 110 ºC with 94.81 % conversion of ophenylene diamine and 100 % selectivity of substituted benzimidazole. Different parameters were studied for optimization of acylation, such as: temperature, acylating agents, solvents, amount of catalyst, and different catalysts. The CMS catalyst could also be recovered and reused at three times without any discernible decrease in its catalytic activity.