Metals, hydroperoxide oxidations catalyzed

M. N. Sheng, J. G. Zajacek, Hydroperoxide Oxidations Catalyzed by Metals-1 The Epoxidation of Olefins, in Oxidation of Organic Compounds-II, Adv. Chem. Series 76, Am. Chem. Society, Washington, DC, 1968, p. 418. 

Sheng, M. N. Zajacek, J. G. Hydroperoxide oxidations catalyzed by metals. III. Epoxidation of dienes and olefins with functional groups. J. Org. Chem., 1970, 35,1839. 

A major problem associated with such autoxidations is that they are largely indiscriminate, i.e. they exhibit poor chemo- and regio- selectivities. They are synthetically useful only with relatively simple substrates containing one reactive position, e.g. the oxidation of toluene to benzoic acid or p-xylene to terephthalic acid. Any catalytic oxidation has to complete with this non-catalytic pathway. Moreover, the situation is further complicated by the fact that transition metal ions also catalyze autoxidations by mediating the decomposition of trace amounts of hydroperoxides into chain-initiating radicals, via the so-called Haber-Weiss mechanism ... 

As mentioned above, catalytic oxidation of olefins via coordination catalysis with an intermediate such as LnM (olefin) 02 seemed an attractive possibility, and Collman s group (45) tentatively invoked such catalysis in the 02-oxidation of cyclohexene to mainly 2-cyclo-hexene-1-one promoted by IrI(CO)(PPh3)2, a complex known to form a dioxygen adduct. Soon afterwards (4, 46, 47) such oxidations involving d8 systems generally were shown to exhibit the characteristics of a radical chain process, initiated by decomposition of hydroperoxides via a Haber-Weiss mechanism, for example Reactions 10 and 11. Such oxidations catalyzed by transition-metal salts such as... 

Metal Deactivators. The ability of metal ions to catalyze oxidation can be inhibited by metal deactivators (19). These additives chelate metal ions and increase the potential difference between the oxidized and reduced states of the metal ions. This decreases the ability of the metal to produce radicals from hydroperoxides by oxidation and reduction (eqs. 15 and 16). Complexation of the metal by the metal deactivator also blocks its ability to associate with a hydroperoxide, a requirement for catalysis (20). 

The general reaction path operative in metal ion (complex) catalyzed alkane (alkyl group) oxidation consists in the generation of free radicals, which subsequently react with dioxygen to produce hydroperoxy radicals and, via H-atom abstraction, hydroperoxides. The latter are often stable products but also important intermediates in further oxidation. Hydroperoxides can decompose thermally to an alcohol and 0 ... 

This fact illustrates the point where the functions of metal salt catalysts become apparent. If oxidation to the alcohol, ketone or carboxylic acid (i.e. beyond the hydroperoxide stage) is the objective, metal catalysts should be used to promote decomposition of the hydroperoxide. The metal ion (complex) catalyzed decomposition of hydroperoxides is responsible for the sustained and rapid formation of radicals participating in a chain reaction. The most effective are metals with at least two accessible oxidation states. Both components of a redox couple may be capable of reacting with alkyl hydroperoxides ... 

Rh (H 0).]A (where A is CIO. or BF.), in combination with promoters BiClg and/or LiCl catalyze the oxidation of secondary alcohols (2-hexanol, 2-octanol, 2-decanol, cyclohexanol) to ketones in chlorobenzene or other aromatic solvents (60-70 C, 1 atm 0 ) [19]. A metal hydroperoxide Cl-Rh-OOH is assumed to be the active intermediate. 

Metal-Catalyzed Oxidation. Trace quantities of transition metal ions catalyze the decomposition of hydroperoxides to radical species and greatiy accelerate the rate of oxidation. Most effective are those metal ions that undergo one-electron transfer reactions, eg, copper, iron, cobalt, and manganese ions (9). The metal catalyst is an active hydroperoxide decomposer in both its higher and its lower oxidation states. In the overall reaction, two molecules of hydroperoxide decompose to peroxy and alkoxy radicals (eq. 5). 

Oxidation catalysts are either metals that chemisorb oxygen readily, such as platinum or silver, or transition metal oxides that are able to give and take oxygen by reason of their having several possible oxidation states. Ethylene oxide is formed with silver, ammonia is oxidized with platinum, and silver or copper in the form of metal screens catalyze the oxidation of methanol to formaldehyde. Cobalt catalysis is used in the following oxidations butane to acetic acid and to butyl-hydroperoxide, cyclohexane to cyclohexylperoxide, acetaldehyde to acetic acid and toluene to benzoic acid. PdCh-CuCb is used for many liquid-phase oxidations and V9O5 combinations for many vapor-phase oxidations. 

There are several available terminal oxidants for the transition metal-catalyzed epoxidation of olefins (Table 6.1). Typical oxidants compatible with most metal-based epoxidation systems are various alkyl hydroperoxides, hypochlorite, or iodo-sylbenzene. A problem associated with these oxidants is their low active oxygen content (Table 6.1), while there are further drawbacks with these oxidants from the point of view of the nature of the waste produced. Thus, from an environmental and economical perspective, molecular oxygen should be the preferred oxidant, because of its high active oxygen content and since no waste (or only water) is formed as a byproduct. One of the major limitations of the use of molecular oxygen as terminal oxidant for the formation of epoxides, however, is the poor product selectivity obtained in these processes [6]. Aerobic oxidations are often difficult to control and can sometimes result in combustion or in substrate overoxidation. In... 

Variable valence transition metal ions, such as Co VCo and Mn /Mn are able to catalyze hydrocarbon autoxidations by increasing the rate of chain initiation. Thus, redox reactions of the metal ions with alkyl hydroperoxides produce chain initiating alkoxy and alkylperoxy radicals (Fig. 6). Interestingly, aromatic percarboxylic acids, which are key intermediates in the oxidation of methylaromatics, were shown by Jones (ref. 10) to oxidize Mn and Co, to the corresponding p-oxodimer of Mn or Co , via a heterolytic mechanism (Fig. 6). 

Transition Metal-Catalyzed Epoxidation of Alkenes. Other transition metal oxidants can convert alkenes to epoxides. The most useful procedures involve f-butyl hydroperoxide as the stoichiometric oxidant in combination with vanadium or... 

Lophine emits yellow CL upon oxidation by molecular oxygen in alkaline solution. The oxidation is believed to produce a free radical [3], which is further oxidized to a hydroperoxide, which is the light-emitting species [4-6], A number of chemiluminescent derivatives of lophine have been synthesized and have been shown to exhibit varying efficiencies of CL. Lophine has been used in the analysis of metal ions such as Co2+ that catalyze the chemiluminescent reaction between it and hydrogen peroxide [7], It has also been used as a chemiluminescent indicator in titrimetry [8],... 

Luminol derivatives produce emission of light by oxidation with oxygen and hydrogen peroxide under alkaline conditions. By utilizing this reaction, peroxides such as hydrogen peroxide and lipid hydroperoxides can be determined after HPLC separation. Metal ions [e.g., iron(II), cobalt(II), etc.] catalyzing the luminol CL reaction can also be determined. 

In real systems (hydrocarbon-02-catalyst), various oxidation products, such as alcohols, aldehydes, ketones, bifunctional compounds, are formed in the course of oxidation. Many of them readily react with ion-oxidants in oxidative reactions. Therefore, radicals are generated via several routes in the developed oxidative process, and the ratio of rates of these processes changes with the development of the process [5], The products of hydrocarbon oxidation interact with the catalyst and change the ligand sphere around the transition metal ion. This phenomenon was studied for the decomposition of sec-decyl hydroperoxide to free radicals catalyzed by cupric stearate in the presence of alcohol, ketone, and carbon acid [70-74], The addition of all these compounds was found to lower the effective rate constant of catalytic hydroperoxide decomposition. The experimental data are in agreement with the following scheme of the parallel equilibrium reactions with the formation of Cu-hydroperoxide complexes with a lower activity. 

Olefin epoxidation by alkyl hydroperoxides catalyzed by transition metal compounds occupies an important place among modern catalytic oxidation reactions. This process occurs according to the following stoichiometric equation ... 

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... 

The resulting products, such as sulfenic acid or sulfur dioxide, are reactive and induce an acid-catalyzed breakdown of hydroperoxides. The important role of intermediate molecular sulfur has been reported [68-72]. Zinc (or other metal) forms a precipitate composed of ZnO and ZnS04. The decomposition of ROOH by dialkyl thiophosphates is an autocata-lytic process. The interaction of ROOH with zinc dialkyl thiophosphate gives rise to free radicals, due to which this reaction accelerates oxidation of hydrocarbons, excites CL during oxidation of ethylbenzene, and intensifies the consumption of acceptors, e.g., stable nitroxyl radicals [68], The induction period is often absent because of the rapid formation of intermediates, and the kinetics of decomposition is described by a simple bimolecular kinetic equation... 

Metal dialkyl dithiocarbamates inhibit the oxidation of hydrocarbons and polymers [25,28,30,76 79]. Like metal dithiophosphates, they are reactive toward hydroperoxides. At room temperature, the reactions of metal dialkyl dithiocarbamates with hydroperoxides occur with an induction period, during which the reaction products are formed that catalyze the breakdown of hydroperoxide [78]. At higher temperatures, the reaction is bimolecular and occurs with the rate v = k[ROOH][inhibitor]. The reaction of hydroperoxide with dialkyl dithiocarbamate is accompanied by the formation of radicals [30,76,78]. The bulk yield of radicals in the reaction of nickel diethyl dithiocarbamate with cumyl hydroperoxide is 0.2 at... 

Similarly, the metal-catalyzed oxidation of aryl alkyl sulfides by t-butyl hydroperoxide carried out in a chiral alcohol gives rise to optically active sulfoxides of low optical purity (e.e., 0.6-9.8%) (57). 

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