Phosphomolybdate [C₇H₇N(CH₃)₃]₃{PO₄[MoO(O₂)₂]₄} was applied to the oxidation of alcohols with hydrogen peroxide as the oxidant and high efficient catalytic performance was achieved. When the molar ratio of H₂O₂ to alcohol was 0.75, no other by-product was detected by gas chromatography, and the conversion of alcohol based on H₂O₂ reached 95.2%. Once H₂O₂ was used up, the catalyst could be recycled from the system easily as deposit, and the catalyst recovery ratios were not less than 78%. The effect of various parameters on the conversion of benzyl alcohol was studied, such as countercation of the catalyst and solvent. The results indicate that choosing [C₇H₇N(CH₃)₃]^＋ as the countercation and acetonitrile as the solvent, the system shows the feature of reaction-controlled phase-transfer catalysis. Under the conditions, the results of the recycling of the catalyst indicate that the catalyst exhibits high stability.

Key words: phosphomolybdate, reaction-controlled phase-transfer, alcohol, benzyl alcohol, oxidation