Synthetic Applications of Nonmetal Catalysts for Homogeneous Oxidations

Abstract

Nonmetal oxidation catalysts have gained much attention in recent years. The reason for this surge in activity is 2-fold: On one hand, a number of such catalysts has become readily accessible; on the other hand, such catalysts are quite resistant toward self-oxidation and compatible under aerobic and aqueous reaction conditions. In this review, we have focused on five nonmetal catalytic systems which have attained prominence in the oxidation field in view of their efficacy and their potential for future development; stoichiometric cases have been mentioned to provide overview and scope. Such nonmetal oxidation catalysts include the alpha-halo carbonyl compounds 1, ketones 2, imines 3, iminium salts 4, and nitroxyl radicals 5. In combination with a suitable oxygen source (H2O2, KHSO5, NaOCl), these catalysts serve as precursors to the corresponding oxidants, namely, the perhydrates I, dioxiranes II, oxaziridines III, oxaziridinium ions IV, and finally oxoammonium ions V. A few of the salient features about these nonmetal, catalytic systems shall be reiterated in this summary. The first class entails the alpha-halo ketones, which catalyze the oxidation of a variety of organic substrates [figure: see text] by hydrogen peroxide as the oxygen source. The perhydrates I, formed in situ by the addition of hydrogen peroxide to the alpha-halo ketones, are quite strong electrophilic oxidants and expectedly transfer an oxygen atom to diverse nucleophilic acceptors. Thus, alpha-halo ketones have been successfully employed for catalytic epoxidation, heteroatom (S, N) oxidation, and arene oxidation. Although high diastereoselectivities have been achieved by these nonmetal catalysts, no enantioselective epoxidation and sulfoxidation have so far been reported. Consequently, it is anticipated that catalytic oxidations by perhydrates hold promise for further development, especially, and should ways be found to transfer the oxygen atom enantioselectively. The second class, namely, the dioxiranes, has been extensively used during the last two decades as a convenient oxidant in organic synthesis. These powerful and versatile oxidizing agents are readily available from the appropriate ketones by their treatment [figure: see text] with potassium monoperoxysulfate. The oxidations may be performed either under stoichiometric or catalytic conditions; the latter mode of operation is featured in this review. In this case, a variety of structurally diverse ketones have been shown to catalyze the dioxirane-mediated epoxidation of alkenes by monoperoxysulfate as the oxygen source. By employing chiral ketones, highly enantioselective (up to 99% ee) epoxidations have been developed, of which the sugar-based ketones are so far the most effective. Reports on catalytic oxidations by dioxiranes other than epoxidations are scarce; nevertheless, fructose-derived ketones have been successfully employed as catalysts for the enantioselective CH oxidation in vic diols to afford the corresponding optically active alpha-hydroxy ketones. To date, no catalytic...

Discovery and Exploitation of AZADO: The Highly Active Catalyst for Alcohol Oxidation

“…[4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11] In recent years, a stable class of nitroxyl radicals, 12) as exemplified by 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl piperidinyl 1-oxyl (TEMPO) [(1); Chart 1], has extensively been used as a catalyst for oxidation of alcohols, because TEMPO is readily available from chemical suppliers at a reasonable price, and because the method allows the use of various safe bulk oxidants, thereby offering safe and extremely efficient oxidation of alcohols with considerable operational simplicity. [13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25] Today, TEMPOcatalyzed alcohol oxidation has high priority not only in academic laboratories, but also in the chemical industries, particularly in the pharmaceutical industry, as an efficient, mild, and environmentally acceptable method.…”

Room temperature aerobic oxidation of alcohols using CuBr2 with TEMPO and a tetradentate polymer based pyridyl-imine ligand

“…Also, there has been significant interest in using the free radical TEMPO (2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-piperidinyl-1-oxy) or analogues as efficient co-catalysts in the aerobic oxidation of alcohols [26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33]. Sheldon and Reedijk et al have reported the efficient use of copper-bipyridine and copper-pyrazole/TEMPO systems in oxidation reactions under air [34][35][36][37].…”

Biomimetic Oxidation of Hydrocarbons with Air over Metalloporphyrins

“…Conventional oxidation methodologies often suffer low chemo-and/or regio-selectivity with low conversion and low turnover number (TON) in an unfriendly way from both economical and environmental aspects which the catalyst is very expensive and generates amounts of hazardous waste. Oxidation reactions catalyzed by both non-metal [7][8] and metal [9][10][11][12][13][14] catalysts have been receiving increasing attention, particularly for the highly selective aerobic oxidations catalyzed by metal complexes [15][16][17]. In nature, aerobic oxidation processes are carried out in a highly selective manner by mono-or dioxygenases under mild conditions [18][19].…”