MCM-41-supported cis-diaquabis(6,6'-dichloro-2,2'-bipyridine) ruthenium(II) complex. Immobilisation, characterisation and catalytic activities

Abstract

cis-[Ru(II)(6,6'-Cl2bpy)2(OH2)2](CF3SO3)2 (6,6'-Cl2bpy = 6,6'- dichloro-2,2'-bipyridine) was immobilised into the mesoporous molecular sieve MCM-41 by a simple and direct method and the highest loading of cis- [Ru(II)(6,6'-Cl2bpy)2(OH2)2](CF3SO3)2 achieved was 8.4 wt%. The supported ruthenium complex, designated as Ru/MCM-41, has been characterised by elemental analyses, N2 adsorption isotherm, X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric and differential thermal analyses (TG-DTA), UV-visible and FT-Raman spectroscopies. XRD spectra showed that the immobilised cis- [Ru(II)(6,6'-Cl2bpy)2(OH2)2](CF3SO3)2 was not in a crystalline form and the MCM-41 structure was retained. Preliminary studies revealed that the Ru/MCM-41 materials catalysed the oxidation of alkanes by tert- butylhydroperoxide (TBHP) with high turnover. High catalytic activity has been obtained with low ruthenium loading catalysts.