Silica supported MoO3: a mild heterogeneous catalyst for the Beckmann rearrangement and its application to some sugar derived ketoximes

Silica supported molybdenum(VI) oxide (20%) has been explored as a new solid catalyst for the Beckmann rearrangement and the results are compared in parallel with the known β-zeolite as a catalyst for the same transformation. Both catalysts were found to facilitate the rearrangement under mild conditions and the conditions employed were tolerable for protecting groups such as isopropylidene, cyclohexylidene and PMB are commonly employed in carbohydrate chemistry.