Alkylperoxo oxidants

A mononuclear diastereopure high-spin Fe alkylperoxo complex with a pen-tadentate N,N,N,0,0-ligand 33 (Scheme 17) was reported by Klein Gebbink and coworkers [109, 110]. The complex is characterized by unusual seven-coordinate geometry. However, in the oxidation of ethylbenzene the iron complex with 33 and TBHP yielded with large excess of substrate only low TON s (4) and low ee (6.5%) of 1-phenylethanol. 

Cobalt(III)-alkylperoxo complexes find use in the oxidation of hydrocarbons.1342,1343 Since they release ROO and RO radicals upon mild heating in solution, they are effective oxidants under mild conditions, and produce catalytic systems in the presence of excess ROOH. Aliphatic C—11 bond oxidation by ConOOR (R = Con, alkyl, H) complexes including a hydrotris(pyrazolyl) borate ligand have also been reported, with homolysis of the peroxo O—O bond believed to be important in oxygenation of the C—H bond.1344... 

There would appear to be two distinct modes of reactivity of early transition metal alkyls with O2. When the metal is not in its highest oxidation state, an O2 complex of variable stability may form, and its subsequent reactivity may or may not involve the metal-carbon bond. The formation of remarkable stable 0x0 alkyls is an example of this pathway. In contrast, d°-alkyls react with O2 by a radical chain mechanism that invariable leads to formation of alkoxide complexes labile alkylperoxo ligands are clearly imphcated as intermediates in these reactions. 

Alkylperoxo species are extremely important reactive intermediates in the metal-catalyzed oxidation of hydrocarbons by alkyl hydroperoxides. 

Transition metal peroxides, particularly peroxo (2), alkylperoxo (7) and hydroperoxo (8) complexes, are extremely important reactive intermediates in catalytic oxidations involving molecular oxygen, hydrogen peroxide and alkyl hydroperoxides as the oxygen source. Representative peroxo complexes are listed in Table 3, and alkylperoxo and hydroperoxo complexes are listed in Table 4 together with their reactivities. 

Chiral epoxides are important intermediates in organic synthesis. A benchmark classic in the area of asymmetric catalytic oxidation is the Sharpless epoxidation of allylic alcohols in which a complex of titanium and tartrate salt is the active catalyst [273]. Its success is due to its ease of execution and the ready availability of reagents. A wide variety of primary allylic alcohols are epoxidized in >90% optical yield and 70-90% chemical yield using tert-butyl hydroperoxide as the oxygen donor and titanium-isopropoxide-diethyltartrate (DET) as the catalyst (Fig. 4.97). In order for this reaction to be catalytic, the exclusion of water is absolutely essential. This is achieved by adding 3 A or 4 A molecular sieves. The catalytic cycle is identical to that for titanium epoxidations discussed above (see Fig. 4.20) and the actual catalytic species is believed to be a 2 2 titanium(IV) tartrate dimer (see Fig. 4.98). The key step is the preferential transfer of oxygen from a coordinated alkylperoxo moiety to one enantioface of a coordinated allylic alcohol. For further information the reader is referred to the many reviews that have been written on this reaction [274, 275]. 

Alkylperoxo (G) and hydroperoxo (H) complexes are very important intermediates in industrial oxidation, but they generally form from alkylhydroper-oxides and hydrogen peroxide respectively (Figure 3). They are considered in more detail in Sections 2.5-2.7, 2.12-2.14. 

Figure 8 Examples of oxygen transfer to different substrates using hydroperoxo or alkylperoxo species A, the epoxidation of olefins catalyzed by Mo (VI) complexes as in the Oxirane process B, the Baeyer-Villiger oxidation of ketones catalyzed by Pt(II) complexes C, the epoxidation of olefins catalyzed by Ti(IV) silicates D, the oxidation of organic sulfides catalyzed by V(V) complexes.

The Tpx ligands can mimic the coordination environment created by three imidazolyl groups from histidine residues, which is frequently found in the active sites of metalloenzymes. Higher valent bis(ix-oxo) species, [(Tpx)M( i-0)2M(Tpx)] via 0-0 cleavage of [(Tpx)M( x-r 2 r 2-02)M(Tpx)] intermediates, but also peroxo, hydroperoxo, and alkylperoxo species, active species undergoing oxidative C-C cleavage reaction, stable hydrocarbyl complexes, and dinuclear xenophilic complexes, [(Tpx)M-M L71], are all relevant to chemical and biological processes, most of which are associated with transition metal catalytic species. 

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