Seyed Nezamoddin Mirsattari - Department of Chemistry, Islamic Azad University
Masoud Salavati-Niasari - Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Kashan

The chemical modification of multi-wall carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) is an emerging area in material science. In the present study, an hydroxyl functionalized manganese(II) Schiff-base has been covalently anchored on modified MWNTs. The new modified MWNTs have been characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron (XPS), thermal analysis, UV-Vis, diffuse reflectance (DRS), FT-IR spectroscopy and elemental analysis. The results suggest that the symmetrical Schiff-base; N,N-bis(4- hydroxysalicylidene)-ethylene-1,2-diamine; H2[(OH)2-salen]; is a bivalent anion with tetradentate N2O2 donors derived from the phenolic oxygens and azomethine nitrogens. The formulae was found to be [Mn((OH)2-salen)] for the 1:1 non-electrolytic complex. The multiwall carbon nanotubes covalently anchored manganese(II) complex ([Mn((OH)2- salen)]@MWNTs) catalyze the oxidation of cyclohexene with TBHP. Oxidation of cyclohexene catalyzed by this complex gave 2-cyclohexene-1-ol, 2-cyclohexene-1-one and 1-(tert-butylperoxy)-2-cyclohexene as the major products. The manganese(II) complex covalently anchored on MWNTs shows significantly higher catalytic activity than [Mn((OH)2-salen)]. The activity of the immobilized catalyst remains nearly the same after three cycles, suggesting the true heterogeneous nature of the catalyst. This catalyst is more selective towards 2-cyclohexene-1- one

Multi-wall carbon nanotubes Manganese(II), Heterogeneous catalyst, Oxidation of cyclohexene