Oxidative cleavage of vicinal diols catalyzed by monomeric Fe‐sites inside MFI zeolite

The oxidative cleavage of vicinal diols to carboxylic acids was investigated over heterogeneous Fe/MFI catalysts in aqueous medium, with green oxidant H2O2 and in mild reaction conditions. High conversions and selectivities (X=90 %, S=79 %) were achieved for the oxidative cleavage of ethylene glycol. Further substrates were also tested broadening the relevance of this catalyst. The employment of non-noble and abundant Fe as the active metal and the MFI-type zeolite as support has a clear advantage over the presently used homogeneous or noble metal-based catalysts. A combination of complementary characterisation techniques with catalytic results is used to show that monomeric Fe species inside zeolite MFI are the active sites for the oxidative cleavage of C-C bonds of vicinal diols. The recyclability of the catalyst and reaction mechanism were also studied.