A new heterogeneous catalytic system consisting of cobalt nanoparticles (CoNPs) supported on MgO and tert-butyl hydroperoxide (TBHP) as oxidant is presented. This CoNPs@MgO/t-BuOOH catalytic combination allowed the epoxidation of a variety of olefins with good to excellent yield and high selectivity. The catalyst preparation is simple and straightforward from commercially available starting materials and it could be recovered and reused maintaining its unaltered high activity.

A new catalytic system consisting in Mn or Co nanoparticles supported on different materials (celite, zeolite, activated carbon, CeO2, ZnO, MgO, Nb2O5) have been studied for styrene epoxidation. The catalysts were prepared easily from commercially available starting materials. Reaction conditions were optimized by testing different solvents, reaction temperatures, oxidizing agents and optimal catalyst loading. CoNPs/MgO and TBHP as co-oxidant, in refluxing ACN, allowed total conversion to the epoxide with excellent yield and high selectivity.

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