Synthesis of peroxophosphotungstate immobilized onto polymeric support as heterogeneous catalyst for the epoxidation of unsaturated fatty esters

Phosphotungstate-based catalysts are efficient catalyst for epoxidation of unsaturated fatty methyl esters but the separation and the reuse of the catalyst are extremely difficult. For that reason, we have prepared different polyoxotungstate catalyst supported onto amphiphilic resins by anionic exchange. We have tried to control the resin amphiphilic characters by varying the imidazole group nature, as well as the spacer linker on the support. This heterogeneous catalyst exhibits excellent activity in the epoxidation of methyl-9,10-octadecenoate with aqueous H2O2 and can be easily recycled without loss of performance.