Molybdenum complex supported on functionalized diatomite and investigation of its catalytic properties

Diatomite has attracted great interest because of their widely distribution and low cost.Diatomite is a low-density biogenicsediment, and its chemical composition mainly consists amorphous silica ( about 70 to 90% ( clay, some metallic oxides ( e.g. Al2O3,Fe2O3,MgO and K2O ), etc [1]. In this study diatomite nano-particles were synthesized by sedimentary method. For the preparation of amine functionalized diatomite was refluxed with 3-(tri-methoxysilyl) propylamine (MSPA) for 20 h and then resulting product was functionalized with salicyl aldehyde.MoO2 (acac)2 was then supported onto the resulting product and heterogeneous catalyst MoO2(acac)2was prepared.Charactrization of the as-synthesized catalyst were investigated FT-IR, XRD, ICP, SEM, BET and EDX. Epoxides are very important intermediates for the production of fine chemicals and pharmaceuticals.In the past decades, many different kinds of catalysts and reaction systems have been developed for alkenes epoxidation with molecular oxygen, hydrogen peroxide or organic oxidants [2]. Modified diatomite were used to support MoO2(acac)2 complexes in alkene epoxidation. The various parameters such as type of solvent, time, amount of catalyst, and type of oxidant were optimized for this reaction. The optimum conditions were found as 10 mg catalyst in dichloroethane with t-BuOOH as oxidant which gives 98% yield during 120 minutes.