Allylic oxidation, of alkenes, with

Alkenes can be aminated in the allylic position by treatment with solutions of imido selenium compounds R—N—Se=N—R. The reaction, which is similar to the allylic oxidation of alkenes with Se02 (see 14-4), has been performed with R = t-Bu and R=Ts. The imido sulfur compound TsN=S=NTs has also been used... 

Scheme 48 Allylic oxidation of alkene with Ru(IV)-complexes.

Cobalt tetraarylporphyrins with fluorine-containing substituents were active in epoxidation of alkenes using fluorous catalysis in the presence of oxygen and 2-methylpropanal [167,170-171]. Manganese and cobalt complexes of perfluorinated tetraazocyclonone catalyzed allylic oxidation of alkenes with r-BuOOH/Oa [172]. The complex with the salen ligand 57 was active in alkene epoxidation under Mikayama s conditions, and indene was epoxidated at a high stereospecificity [173]. 

Selenium dioxide is a useful reagent for allylic oxidation of alkenes. The products can include enones, allylic alcohols, or allylic esters, depending on the reaction conditions. The mechanism consists of three essential steps (a) an electrophilic ene reaction with Se02, (b) a [2,3]-sigmatropic rearrangement that restores the original location of the double bond, and (c) solvolysis of the resulting selenium ester.183... 

The equivalent to allylic oxidation of alkenes, but with allylic transposition of the carbon-carbon double bond, can be carried out by an indirect oxidative process involving addition of an electrophilic arylselenenyl reagent, followed by oxidative elimination of selenium. In one procedure, addition of an arylselenenyl halide is followed by solvolysis and oxidative elimination. 

A catalytic method for the allylic oxidation of alkenes was first reported by Umbreit and Sharpless in 1977, who utilized TBFIP as oxidant and Se02 as catalyst for selective aUylic oxidation. Yields were moderate providing aUylic alcohols or ketones with 54-86% yield. The reaction did not proceed under strictly anhydrous conditions but with one equivalent of water present the oxidation proceeds smoothly at room temperature. In... 

The related dirhodium(II) a-caprolactamate (cap) complex [Rh2(p--cap)4] undergoes a one-electron oxidation process at quite a lower potential (11 mV) than the acetate complex (1170 mV). In agreement with the Kochi hypothesis, the a-caprolactamate complex has recently been found to be an exceptional catalyst for the allylic oxidation of alkenes under mild conditions. A wide range of cyclohexenes, cycloheptenes, and 2-cycloheptenone (Eq. 5) are rapidly converted to enones and enediones in 1 h with only 0.1 mol % of [Rh2( x-cap)4] and yields ranging from 60 to 90%, in the presence of potassium carbonate [34]. 

SCHEME 126. Allylic oxidation of alkenes and alkynes with Se02/TBHP... 

Allyl alcohols can be produced catalytically by oxidation of alkenes with TBHP in the presence of small amounts of Se02 (equation 128). In contrast to the stoichiometric reaction, this catalytic oxidation can be performed under mild conditions (r.t., CH2C12 solvent).356 Alkynic compounds undergo a predominant allylic dihydroxylation upon reaction with TBHP/CH2C12 (equation 129) 357... 

Figure 26 Photosensitized oxidation of alkenes with two distinct allylic hydrogen in solution and within NaY zeolite.

The selenium-dioxide mediated allylic oxidation of alkenes was explored by means of 2H and 13C KIEs to clarify the mechanism of ene step.85 Changes of isotopic composition were determined for unreacted 2-methyl-2-butene 33 in reaction with Se02 at 25°C in ferf-butyl alcohol (Equation (49)). 

Sharpless has achieved the allylic oxidation of alkenes using arylselenenic acids, generated in situ from the diselenide and r-butyl hydroperoxide, a reaction claimed to occur with exclusive allylic rearrangement. ... 

A combination of rtiodium(III) chloride with silver acetate, and treatment of rhodium(II) acetate in acetic acid solution with ozone, are two methods for generation of the (is-oxotrimetal-acetato complex of rhodium [Rhs0(0Ac)6 2O)3]0Ac. This RhsO complex was found to effect catalytic allylic oxidation of alkenes efficiently to give the corresponding a -unsaturated carbonyl compounds in the presence of a reoxidant such as r-butyl hydroperoxide, although in disappointing yield (equation 44). 

More recently Barton and Crich reported the use of 2-pyiidineseleninic anhydride in the allylic oxidation of alkenes. This reagent is prepared in situ by the oxidation of the corresponding diselenide by iodylbenzene. It effects oxidation to a -unsaturated ketones with retention of the double bond regio-chemistry (e.g. equation SO). 

The allylic oxidation of alkenes by O2 involves an ene reaction, and proceeds with rearrangement s as in Scheme 4. The intermediate allylic hydroperoxide (5) can be reduced to yield an allylic alcohol (6), or be treated with base to give an unsaturated carbonyl conqiound (7). The reaction works best on tri- or tetra-substituted alkenes, and the relative preference for attack is Me - CH2 CH. The O2 allylic oxidation has been used in the synthesis of a large number of natural products, including some naturally occurring allylic hydroperoxides. It is possible that O2 reactions of this type are involved in biosynAetic processes. 

Oxidation of alkenes. Two different reactions have been observed in the oxidation of alkenes with Co(OAc)3. a-Methylstyrene is oxidized exclusively to the 1,2-adduct (equation I), whereas either (E)- or (Z)-/3-methylstyrene is oxidized mainly at the allylic position (equation II). ... 

Selenium dioxide oxidation of alkenes with a hydrogen in an a-position involves the formation of the allyl selenic ester (X = OH) by an ene reaction. [2,3] Sigmatropic rearrangement of the allyl selenic ester to the selenium(II) ester and its hydrolysis also resulted in the formation of allylic alcohols. The oxidation of alkenes with selenium dioxide is covered in Section D.4.10. 

A thoughtful reader would have noticed that, while plenty of methods are available for the reductive transformation of functionalized moieties into the parent saturated fragments, we have not referred to the reverse synthetic transformations, namely oxidative transformations of the C-H bond in hydrocarbons. This is not a fortuitous omission. The point is that the introduction of functional substituents in an alkane fragment (in a real sequence, not in the course of retrosynthetic analysis) is a problem of formidable complexity. The nature of the difficulty is not the lack of appropriate reactions - they do exist, like the classical homolytic processes, chlorination, nitration, or oxidation. However, as is typical for organic molecules, there are many C-H bonds capable of participating in these reactions in an indiscriminate fashion and the result is a problem of selective functionalization at a chosen site of the saturated hydrocarbon. At the same time, it is comparatively easy to introduce, selectively, an additional functionality at the saturated center, provided some function is already present in the molecule. Examples of this type of non-isohypsic (oxidative) transformation are given by the allylic oxidation of alkenes by Se02 into respective a,/3-unsaturated aldehydes, or a-bromination of ketones or carboxylic acids, as well as allylic bromination of alkenes with NBS (Scheme 2.64). 

Asymmetric allylic oxidation of alkenes using peresters is possible when the ligand L of the Cu(III) intermediate is chiral. Copper complexes of chiral bis(pyri-dine)- and bis(oxazoline)-type ligands have been used with fert-butyl perbenzoate to obtain optically active allylic benzoates. 

Allylic oxidation of alkenes using mercuric trifluoroacetate with possible allylic rearrangement (see 1st edition). 

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