Morphology-Controlled Synthesis and Characterization of Magnetic Iron Oxide Nanocrystals and Their Potential Applications in Selective Oxidation of Alcohols and Olefins

A protocol for the preparation of iron oxide nanocrystals of two different (nanorods and octahedrons) morphologies has been developed and the synthesized nanocrystals were well characterized by TEM and XRD. These two nanocrystals have been applied for the selectivie oxidation of aryl-methanol and vinyl-arene. Moreover, the magnetic catalysts have easily separated from reaction mixture by a magnet and are reused without appreciable loss of catalytic activity. The oxidation processes avoid the use of toxic catalysts and volatile and hazardous organic solvents.