A Copper-Containing Polyoxometalate-Based Metal–Organic Framework as an Efficient Catalyst for Selective Catalytic Oxidation of Alkylbenzenes

A copper-containing polyoxometalate-based metal–organic framework (POMOF), CuI12Cl2(trz)8[HPW12O40] (HENU-7, HENU = Henan University; trz = 1,2,4-triazole), has been successfully synthesized and well-characterized. In addition, the excellent catalytic ability of HENU-7 has been proved by the selective oxidation of diphenylmethane. Under the optimal conditions, the diphenylmethane conversion obtained over HENU-7 is 96%, while the selectivity to benzophenone is 99%, which outperforms most noble-metal-free POM-based catalysts. Moreover, HENU-7 is stable to reuse for five runs without an obvious loss in activity and also can catalyze the oxidation of different benzylic C–H with satisfactory conversions and selectivities, which implied the significant catalytic activity and recyclability.