manganese and cobalt salts of para-amino-benzoic acid supported on silica gel as oxidizing catalysts

para-aminobenzoic acid is supported on silica gel via reaction of activated silica gel and p-aminobenzoic acid which is then converted to its manganese and cobalt salts. a mixture of the manganese and cobalt salts of the acid is used to catalyze allylic and benzylic alcohols to their corresponding carbonyl compounds in reasonable yields using oxygen or air. reactions are clean and the catalysts can be recovered easily and reused repeatedly.