A molybdenum based metallomicellar catalyst for controlled and selective sulfoxidation reactions in aqueous medium

A surfactant based molybdenum system that exhibits catalytic activity for sulfoxidation reactions of various organic sulfides in aqueous medium has been developed and comprehensively characterized using IR, XRD, NMR, ESI-MS, DLS and TEM. The catalyst showcases remarkable selectivity for the preparation of both sulfoxides and sulfones in the range of good to excellent yields. Furthermore, the catalyst showed a high degree of tolerance towards various sensitive functional groups such as hydroxyl, acetal, aldehyde, amine, imine, oxime, cyano and alkene. © the Partner Organisations 2014.