In the present work, we report for the first time synthesis of oxo vanadium complex containing Lcysteine (CysVO) anchored to mesoporous silica MCM-41. The resultant MCM-41 supported CysVO complex (VO@MCM-41-Cys) was characterized by various physico-chemical techniques such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and inductively coupled plasma (ICP). It was exhibited that the (VO@MCM-41-Cys) can act as an efficient heterogeneous catalyst in the oxidation of various sulfides into sulfoxides in the presence of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) as oxidant and oxidative coupling of thiols into disulfides under neat conditions at room temperature. Moreover, ease of recovery and reusability up to 7 consecutive cycles without a significant loss of its catalytic activity, makes the present protocol beneficial from environmental and industrial viewpoint.
