Aniline is oxidized to nitrosobenzene as the initial product, which undergoes further oxidation to nitrobenzene. The nitrosobenzene formation is catalyzed by functionalized multiwalled carbon nanotubes (CNT) followed by a coupling reaction between nitrosobenzene and aniline to produce azobenzene. This coupling requires close proximity of the reactants. It proceeds rapidly resulting in the UV-VIS absorption spectrum showing maxima at 327 nm and 425 nm. The nitrosobenzene yield in the presence of CNTs is controlled by the amount present in the medium. As the reaction is not catalyzed by unfunctionalized CNTs or graphitic particles, the uniqueness of the functionalized multiwalled CNTs in this catalysis suggests a nanodimensional reaction pathway.
The oxidation of p-toluidine in acetonitrile by hydrogen peroxide is a very slow reaction which produces 4,4'-dimethylazoxybenzene as the product. The presence of functionalized multiwalled carbon nanotubes (CNT) in the above reaction produces 4,4'-dimethylazobenzene. The reactions have been followed by GC/MS, which show the following mass nos.: 226,92 (without CNT) and 210,120,92,28 (with CNT). UV-VIS absorption spectroscopy shows maximum corresponding to 4,4'-dimethylazobenzene at 444 nm. The rate of formation of 4,4'-dimethylazobenzene has been determined as 0.0093 s -1.
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