Mild Oxidation of Olefins

Many oxides and combinations have been examined for the mild oxidation of olefins. Most of the information is in the patent literature,... 

The Mild Oxidation of Olefins (MOOs) gathers MOX and ODH reactions of C2-C40lefins to epoxides, aldehydes, and acids or anhydrides (Figure 10.8). Epox-idation of ethylene proceeds on alumina supported silver which, here, is supposed to undergo oxidation to Ag20 (Am = 1.25) during the course of the reaction. 

The problem of the synthesis of highly substituted olefins from ketones according to this principle was solved by D.H.R. Barton. The ketones are first connected to azines by hydrazine and secondly treated with hydrogen sulfide to yield 1,3,4-thiadiazolidines. In this heterocycle the substituents of the prospective olefin are too far from each other to produce problems. Mild oxidation of the hydrazine nitrogens produces d -l,3,4-thiadiazolines. The decisive step of carbon-carbon bond formation is achieved in a thermal reaction a nitrogen molecule is cleaved off and the biradical formed recombines immediately since its two reactive centers are hold together by the sulfur atom. The thiirane (episulfide) can be finally desulfurized by phosphines or phosphites, and the desired olefin is formed. With very large substituents the 1,3,4-thiadiazolidines do not form with hydrazine. In such cases, however, direct thiadiazoline formation from thiones and diazo compounds is often possible, or a thermal reaction between alkylideneazinophosphoranes and thiones may be successful (D.H.R. Barton, 1972, 1974, 1975). 

Use of DMF as a solvent for the oxidation of l-o1efins has been reported by Clement and Selwitz. The method requires only a catalytic amount of PdCl2 and gives satisfactory yields under mild conditions. A small amount of olefin migration product is the only noticeable contaminant in the cases reported. The procedure can be applied satisfactorily to various 1-olefins with other functional groups. This useful synthetic method for the preparation of methyl ketones has been applied extensively in the syntheses of natural products such as steroids,macrolides, dihydrojasmone, and muscone. " A comprehensive review article on the palladium-catalyzed oxidation of olefins has... 

The oxidation of olefins has also been investigated on a-Mo03 supported on carbon the mild oxidation of propene into acrolein takes place mainly on the (100) face of a-Mo03 while total oxidation occurs on the (010) face (425fg). Similar results have been obtained for the oxidative dehydrogenation of 1-butene into butadiene (425h). 

Some other catalytic events prompted by rhodium or ruthenium porphyrins are the following 1. Activation and catalytic aldol condensation of ketones with Rh(OEP)C104 under neutral and mild conditions [372], 2. Anti-Markovnikov hydration of olefins with NaBH4 and 02 in THF, a catalytic modification of hydroboration-oxidation of olefins, as exemplified by the one-pot conversion of 1-methylcyclohexene to ( )-2-methylcycIohexanol with 100% regioselectivity and up to 90% stereoselectivity [373]. 3. Photocatalytic liquid-phase dehydrogenation of cyclohexanol in the presence of RhCl(TPP) [374]. 4. Catalysis of the water gas shift reaction in water at 100 °C and 1 atm CO by [RuCO(TPPS4)H20]4 [375]. 5. Oxygen reduction catalyzed by carbon supported iridium chelates [376]. - Certainly these notes can only be hints of what can be expected from new noble metal porphyrin catalysts in the near future. 

The oxidation of organic compounds with dioxirane reagents has emerged as an important synthetic method [93,94,95]. The effective use of dimethyldioxirane and methyl(trifluoromethyl)dioxirane for the mild and efficient oxidation of olefins, sulfides, amines, and saturated hydrocarbons naturally raised the question whether chiral versions of these reagents can be developed. 

Moiseev and coworkers showed [10,13] that giant palladium clusters with an idealized formula Pd56iL5o(OAc)igo (L = phenanthroline or bipyridine) are highly active catalysts for allylic oxidation of olefins. The catalytically active solution was prepared by reduction of Pd(OAc)2, e. g. with H2, in the presence of the ligand, L, followed by oxidation with O2. The giant palladium cluster catalyzed the oxidation of propylene to allyl acetate under mild conditions. Even in 10% aqueous acetic acid, allyl acetate selectivity was 95-98 % [10]. Oxidation catalyzed by Pd-561 in water afforded a mixture of allylic alcohol (14%), acrolein (2%), and acrylic acid (60%), and only 5% acetone [10]. 

As with the allylic oxidation of olefins (see above) the giant Pd-561 cluster was also found to catalyze benzylic acetoxylation under mild conditions in acetic acid [10]. 

Macrocyclic metal complexes have recently attracted attention as possible oxygen activating catalysts in oxiciation reactions [2-5]. In one approach they are used as oxygen activating components in a triple catalytic system (Scheme 1) for oxidation of olefins [4,5] and alcohols [6]. This leads to very mild reactions reminiscent of aerobic processes occurring in living organisms. 

In this section we wish to consider briefly the strong oxidation of olefins to products of greater depth of oxidation than the mild ... 

Abnormal imidazolylidene ruthenium complex 45 was developed by Bera and co orkers for the NaI04-mediated oxidation of olefins as a mild alternative to ozonolysis [eqn (3.9)]. For example, styrene was oxidized to benzaldehyde quantitatively in half an hour at room temperature with only 1 mol% 45. Internal olefins were oxidized very efficiendy as well, and cyclic olefins such as cyclohexene afforded a,o)-dialdehydes in excellent yields. Traces of over-oxidation to the corresponding carboxylic acids were only observed with aliphatic olefins. Also,... 

NITRILE OXIDES. Nitrile oxides are a well known class of compds represented by R.C N- 0, and are usually prepd by treating hydroxamic acid chlorides with a mild alkali, thus eliminating HQ (Ref 2). Wieland (Refs 1 3) was responsible for the first isolation of free nitrile oxides. These compds are somewhat unstable, showing a marked tendency to dimerize to (he corresponding furoxanes (1,3-dipolar addition) (Refs 2 3). The nitrile oxides add to a considerable number of carbenes, as benzonitrUe oxide (for example) to a large number of olefins in ether at 20° (Ref 3)... 

The oxidation of a series of olefins reveals the reaction to be very insensitive to electronic effects . Phenyl and methyl substitution of the olefin mildly accelerate reaction. In all cases A , is pH-independent. Data are collected in Table 1. 

A similar system based on rhodium has been studied (123) and was found to be less active than the equivalent iridium catalysts. Selective hydrogenation of acetylenes to olefins and dienes to monoolefins can be performed using the rhodium system, and the authors note that although propan-2-ol is an effective source of hydrogen (via oxidation to acetone), mild pressures of hydrogen gas can also be employed. 

The oxidation of organic substances by cyclic peroxides has been intensively studied over the last decades , from both the synthetic and mechanistic points of view. The earliest mechanistic studies have been carried out with cyclic peroxides such as phthaloyl peroxide , and more recently with a-methylene S-peroxy lactones and 1,2-dioxetanes . During the last 20 years, the dioxiranes (remarkable three-membered-ring cyclic peroxides) have acquired invaluable importance as powerful and mild oxidants, especially the epoxidation of electron-rich as well as electron-poor alkenes, heteroatom oxidation and CH insertions into alkanes (cf. the chapter by Adam and Zhao in this volume). The broad scope and general applicability of dioxiranes has rendered them as indispensable oxidizing agents in synthetic chemistry this is amply manifested by their intensive use, most prominently in the oxyfunctionalization of olefinic substrates. 

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