Alcohol oxidation mechanisms

Methyl ethyl ketone, a significant coproduct, seems likely to arise in large part from the termination reactions of j -butylperoxy radicals by the Russell mechanism (eq. 15, where R = CH and R = CH2CH2). Since alcohols oxidize rapidly vs paraffins, the j -butyl alcohol produced (eq. 15) is rapidly oxidized to methyl ethyl ketone. Some of the j -butyl alcohol probably arises from hydrogen abstraction by j -butoxy radicals, but the high efficiency to ethanol indicates this is a minor source. 

Silver carbonate, alone or on CeHte, has been used as a catalyst for the oxidation of methyl esters of D-fmctose (63), ethylene (64), propylene (65), trioses (66), and a-diols (67). The mechanism of the catalysis of alcohol oxidation by silver carbonate on CeHte has been studied (68). 

In the alcohol oxidations, the sulfonium intermediate (2, nucleophile = R2C(OH)) loses a proton and dimethyl sulfide to give the carbonyl compound (42). The most common mechanism for the decomposition of (2) is attack by a mild base to remove a proton from one of the methyl groups. Subsequent cycHc coUapse leads to the carbonyl compound and dimethyl sulfide (eq. 9) ... 

The mechanism of oxidation has not been studied in detail. In aqueous media it may be assumed that hypobromous acid is formed and that this is the true oxidizing agent. Indeed, Deno" has shown that the rate of oxidation of alcohols by aqueous bromine closely parallels the HOBr concentration and that the alkyl hypohalide is a most likely intermediate. Rate studies and... 

One suggested mechanism is that the reaction may take place by a conjugate hydride-transfer mechanism, analogous to what occurs during alcohol oxidations with NAD+. Electrons on the enolate ion might expel a (3 hydride ion, which could add to the doubly bonded NS nitrogen on FAD. Protonation of the intermediate at N1 would give the product. 

Fermenting baker s yeast also catalyzes the 1,4-addition of a formal trifluoroethanol-d1-synthon to a,/i-unsaturated aldehydes, to give optically active l,l,l-trifluoro-2-hydroxy-5-alka-nones52. Presumably, the mechanism involves oxidation of the alcohol to the corresponding aldehyde followed by an umpolung step with thiamine pyrophosphate and Michael addition to the a,/i-unsaturated aldehyde. For example, l,l,l-trifluoro-2-hydroxy-5-hexanone (yield 26%, ee 93%) is thus obtained from trifluoroethanol and l-bnten-3-one. 

Accordingly, the most reasonable mechanism is the exact analogue of that proposed for alcohol oxidation... 

Acetoin consumes 4 equivalents of V(V) to produce some biacetyl via C-H fission however, this cleavage is not accompanied by a hydronium-ion concentration dependence of the rate thereby differing from a secondary alcohol oxidation. The mechanism of breakdown of the complex is depicted as follows... 

Scheme 2. Proposed mechanism for oxidation of the secondary alcohol function of glyceric acid.

It was seen when analyzing the kinetic data for alcohol oxidation reactions that the catalytic action of nickel oxide is due to a mediator mechanism. Higher oxide forms interact with the adsorbed organic species and oxidize them. In the following step the higher oxide forms are regenerated by electrochemical oxidation of lower oxide forms. 

The general mechanism of alcohol oxidation involves coordination of the alcohol at chromium and a rate-determining deprotonation. 

Aldehydes can be oxidized to carboxylic acids by both Mn(VII) and Cr(VI). Fairly detailed mechanistic studies have been carried out for Cr(VI). A chromate ester of the aldehyde hydrate is believed to be formed, and this species decomposes in the rate-determining step by a mechanism similar to the one that operates in alcohol oxidations.209... 

The traditional chain oxidation with chain propagation via the reaction RO/ + RH occurs at a sufficiently elevated temperature when chain propagation is more rapid than chain termination (see earlier discussion). The main molecular product of this reaction is hydroperoxide. When tertiary peroxyl radicals react more rapidly in the reaction R02 + R02 with formation of alkoxyl radicals than in the reaction R02 + RH, the mechanism of oxidation changes. Alkoxyl radicals are very reactive. They react with parent hydrocarbon and alcohols formed as primary products of hydrocarbon chain oxidation. As we see, alkoxyl radicals decompose with production of carbonyl compounds. The activation energy of their decomposition is higher than the reaction with hydrocarbons (see earlier discussion). As a result, heating of the system leads to conditions when the alkoxyl radical decomposition occurs more rapidly than the abstraction of the hydrogen atom from the hydrocarbon. The new chain mechanism of the hydrocarbon oxidation occurs under such conditions, with chain... 

A study518 of the mechanism of oxidation of alcohols by the reagent suggested that a reversible, oriented adsorption of the alcohol onto the surface of the oxidant occurs, with the oxygen atom of the alcohol forming a coordinate bond to a silver ion, followed by a concerted, irreversible, homolytic shift of electrons to generate silver atoms, carbon dioxide, water, and the carbonyl compound. The reactivity of a polyhydroxy compound may not, it appears, be deduced from the relative reactivity of its component functions, as the geometry of the adsorbed state, itself affected by solvent polarity, exerts an important influence on the selectivity observed.519... 

The mechanism of this oxidation is shown in Figure 4.29. The preferred cofactor for this reaction is nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+). It can be seen from this mechanism that oxidation of tertiary alcohols does not occur because there is no hydrogen on the OH-substituted carbon. 

Scheme 14 Proposed catalytic mechanism for carbonyl tert-prenylation from the alcohol oxidation level via iridium-catalyzed C-C bond-forming transfer hydrogenation...

Scheme 4. Proposed triphasic benzyl alcohol oxidation mechanism on the lSrPyc catalyst with 30%...

Scheme 5. Mechanism for the NPyc membrane catalyzed selective alcohol oxidation reaction in the presence of NaOCl co-oxidant (primary alcohol is given here as an example).

SCHEME 15. Ionic mechanism of oxidation of alcohols by TEMPO-oxoammonium ion. Redrawn from Reference 63 by permission of The Royal Society of Chemistry on behalf of the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique... 

Oxidation of Alcohols in a Direct Alcohol Fuel Cell The electrocatalytic oxidation of an alcohol (methanol, ethanol, etc.) in a direct alcohol fuel cell (DAFC) will avoid the presence of a heavy and bulky reformer, which is particularly convenient for applications to transportation and portable electronics. However, the reaction mechanism of alcohol oxidation is much more complicated, involving multi-electron transfer with many steps and reaction intermediates. As an example, the complete oxidation of methanol to carbon dioxide ... 

The conversion of an alcohol to the corresponding ketone or aldehyde is often effected with CrC>3-based oxidants. The general mechanism of alcohol oxidation is outlined below ... 

Scheme 17 illustrates the two-step mechanism for alcohol oxidation with Ar3BiX2-type oxidants, which was originally proposed by Barton and coworkers. 

Oxidation of alcohols is the most frequently reviewed topic for Ru-catalysed oxidations [3-20]. Mechanisms of alcohol oxidation by Ru complexes have been reviewed [21],... 

---