Facile oxidation of alcohols to carboxylic acids in basic water medium by employing ruthenium picolinate cluster as an efficient catalyst

Selective transformation of alcohols into carboxylic acids is a crucial process in industry for the synthesis of bulk chemicals. Current methods for the production of acids involve oxygen under pressure or toxic reagents like ruthenium chlorite or iodate or chromium oxides. Herein, we report the preparation of [Ru3(CO)8(C5H4NCO2)2] cluster which is an efficient catalyst precursor for the conversion of primary alcohols into carboxylic acids under aerobic conditions. The catalytic process involves the use of NaOH in a water–isopropanol medium which gives a 90% yield of carboxylic acid (90% yield for benzoic acid in standard reaction). This clean process appears to be safe for the synthesis of various benzoic acids for both laboratory and also industrial purposes. Ru3(CO)12 picolinate complex as an efficient catalyst is screened for the oxidation of alcohols to carboxylic acids with 90% yield using basic water in open atmosphere.