No abstract

Efficient aerobic oxidation of cyclohexene to the corresponding products catalyzed by iron (III) porphyrins in supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2) has been developed. Compared with the oxidation occurred in dichloroethane, the efficiency was improved significantly in scCO2, in which the cyclohexene conversion increased from 10.5% to 22.4%. Influence of various reaction parameters including catalyst, catalyst dosage, reaction temperature and pressure on the activity and selectivity were investigated in detail. Moreover, a plausible mechanism involving free radical and high-valence iron species was proposed.