Iron catalysis epoxidation

The reaction of olefin epoxidation by peracids was discovered by Prilezhaev [235]. The first observation concerning catalytic olefin epoxidation was made in 1950 by Hawkins [236]. He discovered oxide formation from cyclohexene and 1-octane during the decomposition of cumyl hydroperoxide in the medium of these hydrocarbons in the presence of vanadium pentaoxide. From 1963 to 1965, the Halcon Co. developed and patented the process of preparation of propylene oxide and styrene from propylene and ethylbenzene in which the key stage is the catalytic epoxidation of propylene by ethylbenzene hydroperoxide [237,238]. In 1965, Indictor and Brill [239] published studies on the epoxidation of several olefins by 1,1-dimethylethyl hydroperoxide catalyzed by acetylacetonates of several metals. They observed the high yield of oxide (close to 100% with respect to hydroperoxide) for catalysis by molybdenum, vanadium, and chromium acetylacetonates. The low yield of oxide (15-28%) was observed in the case of catalysis by manganese, cobalt, iron, and copper acetylacetonates. The further studies showed that molybdenum, vanadium, and... 

In relation to enzymic cytochrome P-450 oxidations, catalysis by iron porphyrins has inspired many recent studies.659 663 The use of C6F5IO as oxidant and Fe(TDCPP)Cl as catalyst has resulted in a major improvement in both the yields and the turnover numbers of the epoxidation of alkenes. 59 The Michaelis-Menten kinetic rate, the higher reactivity of alkyl-substituted alkenes compared to that of aryl-substituted alkenes, and the strong inhibition by norbornene in competitive epoxidations suggested that the mechanism shown in Scheme 13 is heterolytic and presumably involves the reversible formation of a four-mernbered Fev-oxametallacyclobutane intermediate.660 Picket-fence porphyrin (TPiVPP)FeCl-imidazole, 02 and [H2+colloidal Pt supported on polyvinylpyrrolidone)] act as an artificial P-450 system in the epoxidation of alkenes.663... 

At least two systems can be cited as catalysts of peroxide oxidation the first are the iron (III) porphyrins (44) and the second are the Gif reagents (45,46), based on iron salt catalysis in a pyridine/acetic acid solvent with peroxide reagents and other oxidants. The author s opinion is that more than systems for stress testing these are tools useful for the synthesis of impurities, especially epoxides. From another point of view, they are often considered as potential biomimetic systems, predicting drug metabolism. Metabolites are sometimes also degradation impurities, but this is not a general rule, because enzymes and free radicals have different reactivity an example is the metabolic synthesis of arene oxides that never can be obtained by radical oxidation. 

Given the observation of catalysis of alkene epoxidation by iron N-alkyl porphyrins, it is likely that these complexes may yield synthetically useful catalysts (32, 65). The possibility of chiral induction by using either a chiral N-alkyl group (66) or a chiral macrocycle such as N-Me etioporphyrin (67) is an area that should prove fruitful in the near future. 

Fe =0 species have also been implicated in one recent study [65] to explain the dramatic effect of acetic acid in enhancing the epoxide yield and selectivity of olefin oxidations mediated by 6 and 9 (see Section 3) [40]. NMR evidence was obtained by Talsi and coworkers for the formation of Fe =0 species from the reaction of 6 or 9 with H2O2 in the presence of acetic acid at 50 °C. The Fe =0 species may be formed as a consequence of the iron-catalyzed in situ formation of peracetic acid as proposed by Fujita et al. [42], which has been shovm to react with 9 efficiently to form [(TPA)Fe O] [66]. It remains to be established whether such species indeed participate in epoxidation catalysis at higher temperature. 

In pursuit of biomimetic catalysts, metaUoporphyrins have been extensively studied in attempts to mimic the active site of cytochrome P450, which is an enzyme that catalyzes oxidation reactions in organisms. In recent decades, catalysis of alkene epoxidation with metaUoporphyrins has received considerable attention. It has been found that iron [1-3], manganese [4,5], chromium [6], and cobalt porphyrins can be used as model compounds for the active site of cytochrome P450, and oxidants such as iodosylbenzene, sodium hypochlorite [7,8], hydrogen peroxide [9], and peracetic acid [10] have been shown to work for these systems at ambient temperature and pressure. While researchers have learned a great deal about these catalysts, several practical issues limit their applicability, especially deactivation. 

Oxo-transfer from metal complexes to olefins results in a net two-electron reduction at the metal center. As a result, only metals capable of shuttling between oxidation states can be effective oxo-transfer catalysts. Iron, manganese, ruthenium, and chromium have proven effective for catalytic epoxidation via oxo-transfer [8,9], and in synthetic systems studied thus far for enantioselective catalysis, these metals are most commonly coordinated by tetradentate porphyrin (1) and salen (2) ligand frameworks (Fig. 1). 

Epoxidation. With Mn-salen as a catalyst, enol derivatives give 2-hydroxy acetals. Unsaturated acids form lactones during oxidation in the presence of an iron porphyrin. Glycosylation. The action of a PhlO-MejSiOTf combination on thioglycosides consists of oxidation and Lewis acid catalysis, thus allowing the synthesis of disaccharides. 

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