Oxidation of sulfides to sulfoxides and oxidative coupling of thiols into their corresponding disulfides were carried out using urea-hydrogen peroxide (UHP) as oxidizing agent and immobilized Ni or Cd complexes on MCM-41 as stable, heterogeneous, efficient and recoverable catalysts under mild reaction conditions. These supported complexes were characterized by FT-IR spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) and N2 adsorptionedesorption isotherms. A variety of aromatic and aliphatic sulfides and thiols with different functional groups were successfully oxidized with short reaction times in good to excellent yields at room temperature. Catalysts were easily recovered and reused for several consecutive runs without significant loss of their catalytic activity and efficiency.
