A crystalline porous coordination polymer decorated with nitroxyl radicals catalyzes aerobic oxidation of alcohols.

A porous coordination polymer (PCP) has been synthesized employing an organic ligand in which a stable free radical, isoindoline nitroxide, is incorporated. The crystalline PCP possesses one-dimensional channels decorated with the nitroxyl catalytic sites. When O2 gas or air was used as the oxidant, this PCP was verified to be an efficient, recyclable, and widely applicable catalyst for selective oxidation of various alcohols to the corresponding aldehydes or ketones.