Air Oxidation of Benzoin Catalyzed by Metal-Salen Complexes

Metal-Salen (M = Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn) complexes were synthesized to catalyze the oxidation of benzoin to benzil with air as the “green” oxidizing reagent. The effects of temperature, base and solvent on M-Salen catalyzed oxidation of benzoin had been examined and optimized. The catalysis results showed that Co-Salen and Fe-Salen complexes were efficient to catalyze the oxidation reaction with yields over 80% while the catalytic activities of other three M-Salen complexes were poor. Moreover, the Co-Salen catalysis system could be reused three times with satisfied yield.