Benzyl alcohols oxidative cleavage

De-O-benzylation. The oxidative cleavage occurs without affecting many other functional groups, including secondary alcohol, OTBS. 

Kinetic studies of competitive alcohol oxidation over Au/TiOj have postulated a unique ensemble in which a carbocation can be stabilized adjacent to a neighboring gold-oxo center [163]. This work proposed that benzylic alcohols oxidize via C-H cleavage at the benzylic position. Electronic effects in PVP-stabilized gold nanoparticles for p-hydroxy benzyl alcohol selox have also been reported [164] XANES, XPS, and FT-IR suggest that anionic 1.5 nm Au clusters are the most catalytically active, with electron donation from the polymer stabilizer creating Au-superoxo species (Figure 2.11). 

A typical phenol plant based on the cumene hydroperoxide process can be divided into two principal areas. In the reaction area, cumene, formed by alkylation of benzene and propylene, is oxidized to form cumene hydroperoxide (CHP). The cumene hydroperoxide is concentrated and cleaved to produce phenol and acetone. By-products of the oxidation reaction are acetophenone and dimethyl benzyl alcohol (DMBA). DMBA is dehydrated in the cleavage reaction to produce alpha-methylstyrene (AMS). 

Dimethoxybenzyl esters prepared from the acid chloride and the benzyl alcohol are readily cleaved oxidatively by DDQ (CH2CI2, H2O, rt, 18 h, 90-95% yield). A 4-methoxybenzyl ester was found not to be cleaved by DDQ. The authors have also explored the oxidative cleavage (ceric ammonium nitrate, CH3CN, H2O, 0°, 4 h, 65-97% yield) of a variety of 4-hydroxy- and 4-amino-substituted phenolic esters. ... 

With the iodine atom in its proper place, provisions for construction of the C9-C10 bond by an aldol reaction could be made (see Scheme 44). To this end, oxidative cleavage of the para-methoxy-benzyl ether in 181 with 2,3-dichloro-5,6-dicyano-l,4-benzoqui-none (DDQ) in CH2CI2-H2O furnishes a primary alcohol that can... 

Adogen has been shown to be an excellent phase-transfer catalyst for the per-carbonate oxidation of alcohols to the corresponding carbonyl compounds [1]. Generally, unsaturated alcohols are oxidized more readily than the saturated alcohols. The reaction is more effective when a catalytic amount of potassium dichromate is also added to the reaction mixture [ 1 ] comparable results have been obtained by the addition of catalytic amounts of pyridinium dichromate [2], The course of the corresponding oxidation of a-substituted benzylic alcohols is controlled by the nature of the a-substituent and the organic solvent. In addition to the expected ketones, cleavage of the a-substituent can occur with the formation of benzaldehyde, benzoic acid and benzoate esters. The cleavage products predominate when acetonitrile is used as the solvent [3]. 

Benzyl alcohols Aryl alkyl carbinols (11) can be oxidized to ketones (12) by the direct electrochemical method (Eq. 4) since they possess their oxidation potentials at around 2.0 V versus SCE (saturated calomel electrode) however, cleavage products decrease the selectivity [14]. 

Furthermore, the mediator has been used for the bond cleavage of benzyl ethers, the oxidation of benzyl alcohol to benzaldehyde, the oxidation of toluene derivatives to benzoic acid esters, and the oxidation of aliphatic ethers [47]. 

The same basic strategy was applied to the synthesis of the smaller fragment benzyl ester 28 as well (Scheme 4). In this case, aldehyde 22 prepared from (S)-2-hydroxypentanoic acid [9] was allylated with ent-10 and tin(IV) chloride, and the resulting alcohol 23 was converted to epimer 24 via Mitsunobu inversion prior to phenylselenenyl-induced tetrahydrofuran formation. Reductive cleavage of the phenylselanyl group, hydrogenolysis of the benzyl ether, oxidation, carboxylate benzylation, and desilylation then furnished ester 28. 

Oxidation of benzyl alcohol catalysed by chloroperoxidase exhibits a very high prochiral selectivity involving only the cleavage of the pro-S C-H bond. The reaction mechanism involved the transfer of a hydrogen atom to the ferryl oxygen of the iron-oxo complex. An a-hydroxy-carbon radical and the iron-hydroxy complex P-Fe -OH form. They may lead to the hydrated benzaldehyde or stepwise with the formation of the intermediate a-hydroxy cation. 

Ru" (0)(N40)]"+ oxidizes a variety of organic substrates such as alcohols, alkenes, THE, and saturated hydrocarbons. " In all cases [Ru (0)(N40)] " is reduced to [Ru (N40)(0H2)] ". The C— H deuterium isotope effects for the oxidation of cyclohexane, tetrahydrofuran, 2-propanol, and benzyl alcohol are 5.3, 6.0, 5.3, and 5.9 respectively, indicating the importance of C— H cleavage in the transitions state. For the oxidation of alcohols, a linear correlation is observed between log(rate constant) and the ionization potential of the alcohols. [Ru (0)(N40)] is also able to function as an electrocatalyst for the oxidation of alcohols. Using rotating disk voltammetry, the rate constant for the oxidation of benzyl alcohol by [Ru (0)(N40)] is found to be The Ru electrocatalyst remains active when immobilized inside Nafion films. 

This heme-dependent enzyme [EC 1.11.1.14], also known as diarylpropane peroxidase, diarylpropane oxygenase, and ligninase I, catalyzes the reaction of 1,2-bis(3,4-dimethoxyphenyl)propane-l,3-diol with hydrogen peroxide to produce veratraldehyde, l-(3,4-dimeth-ylphenyl)ethane-l,2-diol, and four water molecules. The enzyme brings about the oxidative cleavage of C—C bonds in a number of model compounds and also oxidizes benzyl alcohols to aldehydes or ketones. 

It is now generally admitted that this reaction involves both one-electron and two-electron transfer reactions. Carbonyl compounds are directly produced from the two-electron oxidation of alcohols by both Crvl- and Crv-oxo species, respectively transformed into CrIV and Crm species. Chromium(IV) species generate radicals by one-electron oxidation of alcohols and are responsible for the formation of cleavage by-products, e.g. benzyl alcohol and benzaldehyde from the oxidation of 1,2-diphenyl ethanol.294,295 The key step for carbonyl compound formation is the decomposition of the chromate ester resulting from the reaction of the alcohol with the Crvl-oxo reagent (equation 97).296... 

Lewis acid catalyzed oxidations.2 Oxidations with C6H5I02 alone generally proceed rather slowly at room temperature, but are strongly catalyzed by various l.cwis acids. Thus, in the presence of acetic acid, benzylic alcohols are oxidized to aldehydes a-naphthol can be oxidized to theo-quinone under these conditions. Glycol cleavage occurs efficiently with trichloroacetic acid catalysis. 

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