Diols, vicinal with potassium periodate

Sodium periodate (sodium metaperiodate), NaI04 (mp 300 °C dec), which is commercially available, is applied mainly in aqueous or aqueous-alcoholic solutions. Like the free periodic acid, sodium periodate cleaves vicinal diols to carbonyl compounds [762], This reaction is especially useful in connection with potassium permanganate [763, 764] or osmium tetroxide [765], Such mixed oxidants oxidize alkenes to carbonyl compounds or carboxylic acids, evidently by way of vicinal diols as intermediates. Sulfides are transformed by sodium periodate into sulfoxides [322, 323, 766, 767, 768, 769, 770, 771, 772], and selenides are converted into selenoxides [773]. Sodium periodate is also a reoxidant of lower valency ruthenium in oxidations with ruthenium tetroxide [567, 774],... 

The results of some oxidations with potassium permanganate differ depending on the pH of the reaction. For example, stearolic acid gives 9,10-diketostearic acid at pH 7-7.5 (achieved with carbon dioxide) and azelaic acid on treatment at pH 12 [864]. In some reactions, potassium permanganate is used as a catalyst for oxidation with other oxidants, such as sodium periodate. Thus alkenes are cleaved to carbonyl compounds or acids via vicinal diols obtained by hydroxylation with potassium permanganate, followed by cleavage by sodium periodate [763, 552]. 

Two oxidants essentially dominate these oxidations lead tetraacetate in organic solvents and periodic acid in aqueous media. On occasion, other oxidation reagents cause the cleavage of vicinal diols ceric ammonium nitrate [424], sodium bismuthate [482, 483], chromium trioxide [482, 555], potassium dichromate with perchloric acid [949], manganese dioxide [817], and trivalent [779, 789] or pentavalent [798] iodine compounds. 

Potassium permanganate oxidation of lappaconine (86) yielded oxolap-paconine (88). Further oxidation of oxolappaconine with periodic acid produced secooxolappaconine (89). However, some controversy has developed about the lead tetracetate cleavage of the C-8-C-9 vicinal diol... 

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