Epoxidation hydrogen peroxide - metal catalysts

Metal-Catalyzed Epoxidation. Hydrogen peroxide is able to convert alkenes to epoxides in the presence of metal catalysts. Several metal oxides (Mo03, W03, Se02, V205) are known to catalyze such epoxidations.2,245,278,279 All these catalysts form stable inorganic peracids, and these peracids are supposedly involved in epoxidation in a process similar to organic peracids. 

Key Words Lewis acid adducts, Radical oxidations, Epoxidation, Hydrogen peroxide, Bond dissociation energy, Catalyst durability, Methyltrioxorhenium, Cross-bridged cyclam, Mn(IV), Late transition metal. Propylene oxide. Titanium silicalite (TS-1) catalyst, Ethylanthrahydroquinone/H2 process, Polyoxometallates, Mn(IV) catalyst. Hydrogen abstraction. Rebound mechanism, Isotopic label, t-BuOOH, Peroxide adduct. 2008 Elsevier B.v. 

The observation that addition of imidazoles and carboxylic acids significantly improved the epoxidation reaction resulted in the development of Mn-porphyrin complexes containing these groups covalently linked to the porphyrin platform as attached pendant arms (11) [63]. When these catalysts were employed in the epoxidation of simple olefins with hydrogen peroxide, enhanced oxidation rates were obtained in combination with perfect product selectivity (Table 6.6, Entry 3). In contrast with epoxidations catalyzed by other metals, the Mn-porphyrin system yields products with scrambled stereochemistry the epoxidation of cis-stilbene with Mn(TPP)Cl (TPP = tetraphenylporphyrin) and iodosylbenzene, for example, generated cis- and trans-stilbene oxide in a ratio of 35 65. The low stereospecificity was improved by use of heterocyclic additives such as pyridines or imidazoles. The epoxidation system, with hydrogen peroxide as terminal oxidant, was reported to be stereospecific for ris-olefins, whereas trans-olefins are poor substrates with these catalysts. 

L Ti, Zr, Hf. Characteristic for group IV transition metal catalysts for epoxidation reactions is the intermediate formation of a mono- or bidentate coordinated alkyl hydroperoxide, hydrogen peroxide or a bidentate coordinated peroxo group in the catalytically active species. 

Co(ni) alkyl peroxides have been prepared and used by Mimoun and coworkers in the hydroxylation of hydrocarbons with this metal a Haber-Weiss type of reactivity is suggested. Square-planar Pt(II) complexes, of the type [(dppe)Pt(CF3)(solv)], used by Strukul in the epoxidation of alkenes and in Baeyer-Villiger oxidations of ketones (Schemes 8 and 9), are effective catalysts also in the direct hydroxylation of aromatics with hydrogen peroxide. The reactivity increases in the presence of electron releasing substituents in the aromatic ring. Ortho and para derivatives are practically the only products observed and interesting selectivity toward the ortho products has been detected (equation 85). 

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