Copper aerobic oxidation

In our ongoing efforts to develop oxidation catalysts that are functional in water as environmentally berrign solvent, we synthesized a water-soluble pentadentate salen ligand with polyethylene glycol side chairts (8). After coordination of copper(II) ions to the salen ligand, a dinuclear copper(II) complex is obtained that is soluble in water, methanol and mixtures of both solvents. The aerobic oxidation of 3,5-di-tert.-butylcatechol (DTBC) into 3,5-di-terr.-butylqitinone (DTBQ) was used as a model reaction to determine the catalytically active species and initial data on its catalytic activity in 80% methanol. 

A dinuclear salen complex was investigated as catalyst for the aerobic oxidation of 3,5-di-ferf.-butylcatechol into 3,5-di-teri.-butylquinone in organic and aqueous organic solution. The actual catalyst composition varies in both solvent systems. Formation of a mononuclear species competes with formation of a dinuclear copper(ll) catalyst. The aerobic oxidation of 8 into 9 is 140,000-fold accelerated over background in aqueous methanol, and is about twice as fast as the same reaction in pure methanol. 

Recently, great advancement has been made in the use of air and oxygen as the oxidant for the oxidation of alcohols in aqueous media. Both transition-metal catalysts and organocatalysts have been developed. Complexes of various transition-metals such as cobalt,31 copper [Cu(I) and Cu(II)],32 Fe(III),33 Co/Mn/Br-system,34 Ru(III and IV),35 and V0P04 2H20,36 have been used to catalyze aerobic oxidations of alcohols. Cu(I) complex-based catalytic aerobic oxidations provide a model of copper(I)-containing oxidase in nature.37 Palladium complexes such as water-soluble Pd-bathophenanthroline are selective catalysts for aerobic oxidation of a wide range of alcohols to aldehydes, ketones, and carboxylic acids in a biphasic... 

A large dump of copper pyrites ore ignited after heavy rain. The thick layer (6-7 m) and absence of ventilation were contributory factors to the accelerating aerobic oxidation which finally led to ignition. 

Recently, two reports (218, 219) appeared showing that (iminosemiqui-nonato)copper(II) complexes also catalyze the aerobic oxidation of primary alcohols (ethanol, benzyl alcohol) to the corresponding aldehydes and H202. Complexes J and K shown in Fig. 33 have been isolated as active catalysts and the former has been characterized by X-ray crystallography. Detailed mechanistic studies have been performed that again show the close resemblance to GO. 

SCHEME 17. Sheldon s mechanism of an aerobic copper-centred oxidation of alcohols by TEMPO... 

A copper-centered mechanism for the Cu-TEMPO-catalyzed aerobic oxidation of alcohols was proposed by Sheldon and co-workers, wherein the active catalytic Cu" species is generated by oxidation of a Cu species with TEMPO, in the presence of alcohol, with formation of TEMPOH (Scheme 3) [146]. The resulting Cu" species is then capable of oxidizing the alcoholate to the aldehyde or ketone species. Regeneration of the TEMPO radical species was achieved by rapid oxidation of TEMPOH with O2. 

The application of ionic liquids as a reaction medium for the copper-catalyzed aerobic oxidation of primary alcohols was reported recently by various groups, in attempts to recycle the relatively expensive oxidant TEMPO [150,151]. A TEMPO/CuCl-based system was employed using [bmim]PF6 (bmim = l-butyl-3-methylimodazolium) as the ionic liquid. At 65 °C a variety of allylic, benzylic, aliphatic primary and secondary alcohols were converted to the respective aldehydes or ketones, with good selectiv-ities [150]. A three-component catalytic system comprised of Cu(C104)2, dimethylaminopyridine (DMAP) and acetamido-TEMPO in the ionic liquid [bmpy]Pp6 (bmpy = l-butyl-4-methylpyridinium) was also applied for the oxidation of benzylic and allylic alcohols as well as selected primary alcohols. Possible recycling of the catalyst system for up to five runs was demonstrated, albeit with significant loss of activity and yields. No reactivity was observed with 1-phenylethanol and cyclohexanol [151]. 

The Wacker process (Eq. 1) was developed nearly 50 years ago [1-3] and represents one of the most successful examples of homogeneous catalysis in industry [4-9]. This palladium-catalyzed method for the oxidation of ethylene to acetaldehyde in aqueous solution employs a copper cocatalyst to facilitate aerobic oxidation of Pd° (Scheme 1). Despite the success of this process, certain features of the reaction have Umited the development of related aerobic oxidation reactions. Many organic molecules are only sparingly sol-... 

Tyrosinase, a copper-containing oxidoreductase, catalyzes the orthohydroxy-lation of monophenols and the aerobic oxidation of catechols. The enzyme activity will be assayed by monitoring the oxidation of 3,4-dihydroxyphenyl-alanine (dopa) to the red-colored dopachrome. The kinetic parameters Ku and Vmax will be evaluated using Lineweaver-Burk or direct linear plots. Inhibition of tyrosinase by thiourea and cinnamate will also be studied. Two stereoisomers, L-dopa and D-dopa, will be tested and compared as substrates. 

Jiang N, Ragauskas AJ (2005) Copper(II)-catalyzed aerobic oxidation of primary alcohols to aldehydes in ionic liquid [bmpy]PF6. Org Lett 7(17) 3689-3692... 

II. First Generation Copper-Catalyzed Aerobic Oxidation Protocol... 

Our own work in the area of aerobic oxidations was inspired by the exquisite research performed on the structure and reactivity of the binuclear copper proteins (7), hemocyanin and tyrosinase, and by the seminal contribution of Riviere and Jallabert (8). These two authors have shown that the simple copper complex CuCl - Phen (Phen = 1,10-phenanthroline) promoted the aerobic oxidation of benzylic alcohols to the corresponding aromatic aldehydes and ketones (Fig. 2). 

Such a simple mechanistic proposal accomodated the observation that highly activated, benzylic alcohols were good substrates due to the enhanced lability of their a-hydrogen atoms. In contrast, aliphatic alcohols are far less reactive towards H-radical abstraction and, accordingly, poor conversions should ensue. However, it was rather disturbing to note that allylic alcohols, such as geraniol and nerol, displayed poor reactivity in this system. Furthermore, it was observed that the aerobic oxidation of aliphatic alcohols invariably resulted in the rapid formation of a green copper(II) salt, with concomitant deactivation of the catalyst. 

The previous observation strongly suggested that the regeneration of the active copper(I) species was a serious predicament in the oxidation of aliphatic alcohols. It was therefore decided to test the effect of various reductants in this aerobic oxidation reaction. Naturally, we turned to the hydrazine family of reducing agents (Table I) (14). 

Copper-Catalysed Aerobic Oxidation of Alcohols Using DEAD H2... 

Moreover, we believe that the azo form helps in stabilizing several of the reactive copper complexes involved in this catalytic cycle such as the hydroxy copper complex 17. Thus, we surmise that this novel catalytic, aerobic oxidation procedure for alcohols into carbonyl derivatives proceeds via a dehydrogenation mechanism and relies on the effective role of hydrazine or azo compounds as hydrogen shuttles and stabilizing ligands for the various copper complexes (20). 

Song B, Wang G, Yuan J. Measurement and characterization of singlet oxygen production in copper ion-catalyzed aerobic oxidation of ascorbic acid. Talanta 2007 72 231-6. 

---