Green oxidation of alcohols by using hydrogen peroxide in water in the presence of magnetic Fe₃O₄nanoparticles as recoverable catalyst

Magnetically nano Fe3O4 efficiently catalyzes green oxidation of primary and secondary benzylic and aliphatic alcohols to give the corresponding carbonyl products in good yields. The reactions were carried out in an aqueous medium in the presence of hydrogen peroxide as an oxidant at 50°C. In addition, the magnetically nano Fe3O4 catalyst could be reused up to four runs without any significant loss of activities. Catalyst was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray powder diffraction, thermogravimetric analysis, vibrating sample magnetometer, and IR.