Catalyst-free mechanochemistry as a versatile tool in synthetic chemistry: a review

The development of a mechanochemical Fe‐catalyzed Wacker oxidation of olefins with a sustainable and benign procedure holds significant promise for industrial applications. However, navigating the intricate interactions inherent in ball‐milling conditions to fine‐tune reaction selectivity remains a formidable challenge. Herein, leveraging the dispersive and/or trapping properties of cyclodextrins, an innovative mechanochemical approach is developed through the integration of cyclodextrins into a Fe‐catalyzed system, enabling a streamlined Wacker oxidation process from simple and/or commercially available alkenes. Our efforts have yielded optimized mechanochemical conditions demonstrating exceptional reactivity and selectivity in generating a diverse array of ketone products, markedly enhancing catalytic efficiency compared to conventional batch methods. Mechanistic investigations have revealed a predominantly Markovnikov‐selective catalytic cycle, effectively minimizing undesired alcohol formation, hydrogenation, and the other competing pathways, boosting both reaction yield and selectivity.

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Meeting the UN Sustainable Development Goals with Mechanochemistry

Alić,

Schlegel,

Emmerling

et al. 2024

Angewandte Chemie

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Chemistry traditionally relies on reactions in solution, but this method is increasingly problematic due to the scale of chemical processes and their economic and environmental impact. Handling residual chemical waste, including solvents, incurs significant costs and environmental pressure. Conversely, novel chemical approaches are needed to address pressing societal issues such as climate change, energy scarcity, food insecurity, and waste pollution. Mechanochemistry, a sustainable chemistry discipline that uses mechanical action to induce chemical reactivity without bulk solvents, is a hot topic in academic research on sustainable and green chemistry. Given its fundamentally different working principles from solution chemistry, mechanochemistry offers more efficient chemical processes and the opportunity to design new chemical reactions. Mechanochemistry has a profound impact on many urgent issues facing our society and it is now necessary to use mechanochemistry to address them. This Minireview aims to provide a guide for using mechanochemistry to meet the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), thereby contributing to a prosperous society. Detailed analysis shows that mechanochemistry connects with most UN SDGs and offers more cost‐efficiency than other approaches together with a superior environmental performance.

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Catalyst-free mechanochemistry as a versatile tool in synthetic chemistry: a review

Abstract: A notable advancement of the mechanochemical process has been its ability to initiate reactions that are extremely difficult/impossible to occur. For the first time, in this article, we review the...

Cited by 22 publications

References 241 publications

The Heyns Rearrangement: Synthetic Routes Beyond Carbohydrate Chemistry

The Heyns Rearrangement: Synthetic Routes Beyond Carbohydrate Chemistry

Supramolecular Modulation for Selective Mechanochemical Iron‐Catalyzed Olefin Oxidation

Meeting the UN Sustainable Development Goals with Mechanochemistry

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