Cobalt nano-particles supported on ethylenediamine functionalized magnetic cellulose nanofibers as a novel and efficient catalyst for oxidation of alcoholes

Cobalt immobilized on functionalized magnetic cellulose nanofibers (Fe3O4@NFCs-NH2-CoII), as a novel bio-supported catalyst was synthesized. The catalyst system has been well characterized by various techniques like FTIR, TGA, SEM, TEM, EDX, ICP-AES and VSM. The as-prepared nanocatalyst was found to be a highly efficient heterogeneous catalyst for oxidation aromatic alcoholes with Tert- Butyl hydroperoxide (TBHP) in ethyl acetate as a green solvent at 45 °C with a yield over 50−90%. Importantly, the synthesized nanocatalyst can be easily separated by an external magnet and reused for at least five times without any appreciable loss of its catalytic reactivity