Carbamazepine oxidation catalyzed by iron and manganese porphyrins supported on aminofunctionalized matrices

This work describes the catalytic activity of manganese and iron porphyrins, Mn and Fe(TFPP)Cl, covalently immobilized on the aminofunctionalized supports montmorillonite K-10 (MontX) and silica (SilX), where X = 1 or 2 represents the length of the organic chain (“arms”) binding the metalloporphyrin to the support. These systems were characterized by UV–vis and Electronic Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR), and they were used as catalysts in the oxidation of carbamazepine (CBZ) by the oxidants iodosylbenzene (PhIO) and hydrogen peroxide. The manganese porphyrin (MnP) catalysts proved to be efficient and selective for the epoxide, the main CBZ metabolite in natural systems. MnMont1 was an excellent catalyst when PhIO was used as oxidant, even better than the same MnP in homogeneous system. Supports bearing short “arms” led to the best yields. Although H2O2 is an environmentally friendly oxidant, low product yields were obtained when it was employed in CBZ oxidation. Fe(TFPP)Cl immobilized on aminofunctionalized supports was not an efficient catalyst, probably due to the presence of Fe(II) species in the matrix, which led to the less reactive intermediate PFe(IV)(O).