Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Green Chemistry: The Oxidation Of Benzaldehyde Using Atmospheric Oxygen And N-Heterocyclic Carbenes As Catalysts, Alex Brody, John Morgan

Student Research Poster Presentations 2020

Oxidation is a vital process in organic and biochemical reactions. In particular, the oxidation of aromatic aldehydes to carboxylic acids and esters is a vital process used in many different environments. Benzaldehyde is one common subject of this type of reaction, used in the synthesis of benzoic acid and benzoate derivatives. Unfortunately, the industrial synthesis of these compounds uses harmful heavy metal oxidants such as Chromium(VI) and Manganese(VII), which are very harmful to the environment. We proposed to eliminate these pollutants by using atmospheric oxygen and an organic catalyst in a solvent free reaction. This reaction would then be microwaved …