Heterogeneous biomimetic catalysis using iron porphyrin for cyclohexane oxidation promoted by chitosan

Graphical abstract: A biomimetic catalyst of iron-tetrakis(4-sulfonatophenyl)porphyrin immobilized on powdered chitosan achieves efficient cyclohexane oxidation with high ketone and alcohol yields. - Highlights: • Fe (TPPS)/pd-CTS is an excellent catalyst for cyclohexane oxidation. • Amino ligation alters the electron cloud density around the iron cation. • Amino coordination likely reduces the activation energy of Fe (TPPS). • The catalyst achieved 22.9 mol% yields of cyclohexanone and cyclohexanol. - Abstract: This study investigates how ligands modulate metalloporphyrin activity with the goal of producing a practical biomimetic catalyst for use in the chemical industry. We immobilized iron porphyrinate [iron-tetrakis-(4-sulfonatophenyl)-porphyrin; Fe(III) (TPPS)] on powdered chitosan (pd-CTS) to form an immobilized catalyst Fe(III) (TPPS)/pd-CTS, which was characterized using modern spectroscopic techniques and used for catalytic oxidation of cyclohexane with O₂. Amino coordination to iron porphyrin in Fe(III) (TPPS)/pd-CTS altered the electron cloud density around the iron cation, probably by reducing the activation energy of Fe(III) (TPPS) and raising the reactivity of the iron ion catalytic center, thereby improving the catalytic efficiency. One milligram of Fe(III) (TPPS) catalyst can be reused three times for the oxidation reaction to yield an average of 22.9 mol% of cyclohexanone and cyclohexanol.