Hydrogen peroxide chiral hydroperoxide synthesis

Synthesis of Optically Active Epoxides. Alkaloids and alkaloid salts have been successfully used as catalysts for the asymmetric synthesis of epoxides. The use of chiral catalysts such as quinine or quinium benzylchloride (QUIBEC) have allowed access to optically active epoxides through a variety of reaction conditions, including oxidation using Hydrogen Peroxide (eq 5), Darzens condensations (eq 6), epoxidation of ketones by Sodium Hypochlorite (eq 7), halohydrin ring closure (eq 8), and cyanide addition to a-halo ketones (eq 9). Although the relative stereochemistry of most of the products has not been determined, enan-tiomerically enriched materials have been isolated. A more recent example has been published in which optically active 2,3-epoxycyclohexanone has been synthesized by oxidation with t-Butyl Hydroperoxide in the presence of QUIBEC and the absolute stereochemistry of the product established (eq 10). ... 

The most practical method that is used in the industrial synthesis of esomeprazole involves titanium-catalyzed oxidation with an alkyl hydroperoxide, and a dialkyltartrate as chiral ligand, in an organic solvent such as dichloromethane. A variety of oxidoreductases are known to catalyze the enantioselective oxidation of prochiral sulfides, usually as whole-cell biotransformations in aqueous media, but no simple metal complexes have been shown to be effective in water and the development of practical systems employing aqueous hydrogen peroxide as the primary oxidant is still an important challenge. In this context it is worth mentioning the enantioselective sulfoxidation of prochiral sulfoxides catalyzed by the semisynthetic peroxidase, vanadium-phytase, in an aqueous medium. 

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