Heterogeneous clay-manganese(II) oxidation catalyst

A manganese(II)-Schiff base complex has been heterogenized by its intercalation into clay minerals. The incorporation of the homogeneous manganese(II) complexes in the interlayer space of aluminosilicate mineral is accomplished by a cation exchange process. The obtained clay-manganese(II) composite has been studied by chemical analysis, X-ray diffraction and FT-IR spectroscopy. The new catalytic material has been evaluated as oxidation catalyst. Our results showed that this composite exhibits significant catalytic activities for alkene epoxidation using hydrogen peroxide as oxidant.