Rational design of a polyoxometalate intercalated layered double hydroxide: highly efficient catalytic epoxidation of allylic alcohols under mild and solvent-free conditions

摘要

Intercalation catalysts, owing to their modular and accessible gallery and unique interlamellar chemical environment, have shown wide application in various catalytic reactions. However, the poor mass transfer between the active components of the intercalated catalysts and organic substrates is one of the challenges that limit their further application. Herein, we have developed a novel heterogeneous catalyst by intercalating the polyoxometalate (POM) of Na9LaW10O36⋅32 H2O (LaW10) into layered double hydroxides (LDHs), which have been covalently modified with ionic liquids (ILs). The intercalation catalyst demonstrates high activity and selectivity for the epoxidation of various allylic alcohols in the presence of H2O2. For example, trans-2-hexen-1-ol undergoes up to 96 % conversion and 99 % epoxide selectivity at 25 °C in 2.5 h. To the best of our knowledge, the Mg3Al−ILs−C8−LaW10 composite material constitutes one of the most efficient heterogeneous catalysts for the epoxidation of allylic alcohols (including the hydrophobic allylic alcohols with long alkyl chains) reported so far.