[PZnMo2W9O39]5− immobilized on ionic liquid-modified silica as a heterogeneous catalyst for epoxidation of olefins with hydrogen peroxide

The epoxidation of alkenes with hydrogen peroxide catalyzed by [PZnMo 2 W 9 O 39 ] 5- , ZnPOM, supported on ionic liquid-modified silica, Im-SiO 2 , is reported. The immobilized catalyst, [ZnPOM@Im-SiO 2 ] was characterized by elemental analysis, X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), FT-IR and UV–Vis spectroscopic methods. This new synthesized hybrid catalyst was applied for efficient epoxidation of various olefins with aqueous H 2 O 2 in acetonitrile under reflux conditions. This solid catalyst can be easily recovered by simple filtration and reused several times without significant loss of its catalytic activity.