Oxidation of organosulfur compounds using an iron(III) porphyrin complex: An environmentally safe and efficient approach

•Iron(III) porphyrin as catalyst and H2O2 as the oxygen source in ethanol.•An environmentally friendly approach for the oxidation of organosulfur compounds.•An efficient procedure for the treatment of the so-called S-refractory compounds.•For all the substrates, conversions are higher than 95% with the iron porphyrin.•Overall conversion of 84% for a model fuel with BT and three DBTs in hexane. Following our approach on the use of metalloporphyrins as catalysts and hydrogen peroxide as oxidant in the oxidation of organosulfur compounds (e.g. sulfides, benzothiophenes and dibenzothiophenes), herein the excellent catalytic performance of a homogeneous iron(III) porphyrin complex is demonstrated. Beyond the better results obtained, when compared with those with manganese(III) complexes, the present procedure involves a cleaner approach because ethanol is used as solvent and a co-catalyst is not required. For all the studied substrates (1–10), conversions higher than 95% were achieved with Fe(TF4NMe2PP)Cl (I). More significantly, catalyst (I) is also efficient in the oxidation of a model fuel, constituted by a mixture of benzothiophene (3), 3-methylbenzothiophene (5), 4-methyldibenzothiophene (8) and 4,6-diethyldibenzothiophene (10) in hexane, affording an overall conversion of 84%.