Catalytic Activity of Cobalt-Ferrite Magnetic Nanoparticles for alkenes oxidation

Cobalt ferrite magnetic nanoparticles used as a clean catalyst for the oxidation of various alkenes with molecular oxygen. The sol–gel technique was followed in the preparation of cobalt ferrite amorphous powder. This study has demonstrated that CoFe2O4 nanoparticles can act as an efficient catalyst for the conversion of alkenes to the related aldehydes or epoxides in 15-100% conversion at 40 °C. The catalyst can be readily isolated by using an external magnet and no obvious loss of activity was observed when the catalyst was reused in six consecutive runs [1]. The effects of some parameters, such as temperature, types of oxidant and solvents, on the oxidation reactions were also investigated. The results showed that when CoFe2O4 MNPs is used with O2 as the oxidant for the oxidation of some alkenes, better results are obtained compared to most of the studied similar ferrites [2].