Photo-assisted oxidation of thiols to disulfides using cobalt ‘‘Nanorust’’ under visible light

<div>Heterogeneous ‘‘Nanorust’’ containing cobalt oxide has been developed for the visible light assisted</div><div>oxidation of thiols to disulfides using molecular oxygen as an oxidant under alkaline free conditions and</div><div>therefore more environmentally friendly. Pyrolysis of heterogenized tetrasulfonated cobalt(II) phthalocyanine</div><div>(CoPcS) supported on mesoporous ceria (CeO2) transforms it into a novel heterogeneous ‘‘Nanorust’’</div><div>containing CoOx-C,N@CeO2 which exhibited higher catalytic activity than the homogeneous CoPcS as well</div><div>as the ceria immobilized CoPcS catalyst. Importantly, these catalysts could easily be recovered and recycled</div><div>for several runs, which makes the process greener and cost-effective