Preparation of MoO3/CuMoO4 nanoparticles as selective catalyst for olefin epoxidation

Thermolysis of the mixture of [CuMoO4(N2C12H8)].H2O and [Cu3ICl(4,4´-bipy)4][CuII(1,10-phen)2Mo8O26] (4,4´-bipy = 4,4´-bipyridine and 1,10-phen = 1,10-phenanthroline) coordination polymershas led to the formation of MoO3/CuMoO4 nanoparticles (NPs).The nanomaterial was characterized by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis, dynamic light scattering (DLS) and inductive coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES). The MoO3/CuMoO4 NPs were employed as heterogeneous catalyst in the epoxidation of olefins and allylic alcohols with tert-butyl hydroperoxide (TBHP) or cumene hydroperoxide (CHP) as oxidants in different solvents such as CHCl3, CH2Cl2 and CH3CN. The resulting catalyst displayed high activity and selectivity towards the epoxidation of olefins and allylic alcohols.