Two heterogeneous catalysts, MCM-41@Tryptophan-Cd and MCM-41@Tryptophan-Hg, were synthesized by immobilization of Cd or Hg complexes on MCM-41 as novel, efficient, recoverable and stable nanocatalysts for Oxidation of sulfides to sulfoxides and oxidative coupling of thiols into their corresponding disulfides. These functionalized complexes were characterized by FT-IR spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) and N2 adsorption–desorption isotherms. The designed catalysts successfully oxidized a variety of sulfides and thiols with short reaction times in high to excellent yields at room temperature and recovered for several times without significant loss of their catalytic activity.
