Model alkenes oxidation

The overall reaction catalyzed by epoxide hydrolases is the addition of a H20 molecule to an epoxide. Alkene oxides, thus, yield diols (Fig. 10.5), whereas arene oxides yield dihydrodiols (cf. Fig. 10.8). In earlier studies, it had been postulated that epoxide hydrolases act by enhancing the nucleo-philicity of a H20 molecule and directing it to attack an epoxide, as pictured in Fig. 10.5, a [59] [60], Further evidence such as the lack of incorporation of 180 from H2180 into the substrate, the isolation of an ester intermediate, and the effects of group-selective reagents and carefully designed inhibitors led to a more-elaborate model [59][61 - 67]. As pictured in Fig. 10.5,b, nucleophilic attack of the substrate is mediated by a carboxylate group in the catalytic site to form an ester intermediate. In a second step, an activated H20... 

Consequently, in modelling alkane oxidation through to the final products, a sub-set of elementary reactions are required to account for the oxidation of any alkenes formed. Two prominent properties of alkenes result in a number of distinguishing features in their oxidation chemistry. 

Developing a kinetic model based on a realistic reaction mechanism proved to be more difficult for the C3H6-NO-O2 reaction than the C.3H8-NO-O2 [2] reaction, simply because very little work has been published on the oxidation of alkenes over Pt group metal catalysts. While it is generally accepted that the rate determining step in alkane oxidation over Pt group metal catalysts is the breaking of the first C-H bond [3], no such consensus exists for alkene oxidation. 

Aqueous sodium hypochlorite is another low-priced oxidant. Very efficient oxidative systems were developed which contain a meso-tetraarylporphyrinato-Mn(III) complex salt as the metal catalyst and a QX as the carrier of hypochlorite from the water phase to the organic environment. These reactions are of interest also as cytochrome P-450 models. Early experiments were concerned with epoxidations of alkenes, oxidations of benzyl alcohol and benzyl ether to benzaldehyde, and chlorination of cyclohexane at room temperature or 0°C. A certain difficulty arose from the fact that the porphyrins were not really stable under the reaction conditions. Several research groups published extensively on optimization, factors governing catalytic efficiency, and stability of the catalysts. Most importantly, axial ligands on the Mn porphyrin (e.g., substituted imidazoles, 4-substituted pyridines and their N-oxides), 2 increases rates and selectivities. This can be demonstrated most impressively with pyridine ligands directly tethered to the porphyrin [72]. Secondly, 2,4- and 2,4,6-trihalo- or 3,5-di-tert-butyl-substituted tetraarylporphyrins are more... 

Scheme 8.13 Pd-catalyzed aldehyde-selective alkene oxidation and proposed radical model.

Several recent studies of Au-catalyzed aerobic epoxidation of aUsenes reported by Caps et al. [170-174], using stilbene as a model alkene and a range of oxidants, demonstrated that O2 is activated by radical species (hence, the solvent has a pronounced effect) and led to the formulation of a strategy for the development of a reference catalyst system. Reproducible and scalable fabrication of the proposed reference catalyst was achieved via direct reduction of AuPPh3Cl in the presence of a silica support functionahzed with dimethylsiloxane. After activation by heating to 200 °C in vacuum, the catalyst was shown to contain 2.9 1.2 nm Au particles. It was highhghted that the activation step (vacuum treatment at... 

Yawalkar et al. (2001) has developed a model for a three-phase reactor based on the use of a dense polymeric composite membrane containing discrete cubic zeolite particles (Fig. 4.5) for the epoxidation reaction of alkene. Catalytic particles of the same size are assumed vdth a cubic shape and uniformly dispersed across the polymer membrane cross-section. Effects of various parameters, such as peroxide and alkene concentration in liquid phase, sorption coefficient of the membrane for peroxide and alkene, membrane-catalyst distribution coefficient for peroxide and alkene and catalyst loading, have been studied. The results have been discussed in terms of a peroxide effidency defined as the ratio of flux of peroxide through the membrane utilized for alkene oxidation to the total flux of organic peroxide through the membrane. The paper aimed to show that, by using an organophilic dense membrane and the catalysts confined in the polymeric matrix, the oxidant concentration (in that reaction peroxides) can be controlled on the active site with an improvement of the peroxide efficiency and selectivity to desired products. 

Alkynes, better Ji acceptors than alkenes, correspond well to the model of oxidative addition to give metallacyclopropenes. Further oxidative addition of alkynes to bis-carbene or even to bis-carbyne complexes (see below) would be analogous to the oxidative addition of O2 to di-oxo complexes. Such oxidative addition is not yet known, however. 

Pioneering work by Groves and his co-workers showed the possible use of simple synthetic heme models such as Fe (TPP) as oxidation catalysts [43-48]. In 1979, they reported alkanes and alkenes oxidations by iodosylbenzene in the presence of a catalytic amount of Fe (TPP)Cl at room temperature [39]. Chang and coworkers examined intramolecular hydroxylation by using an iron porphyrin complex having alkyl chain... 

The complexes [Cu(NHC)(MeCN)][BF ], NHC = IPr, SIPr, IMes, catalyse the diboration of styrene with (Bcat) in high conversions (5 mol%, THF, rt or reflux). The (BcaO /styrene ratio has also an important effect on chemoselectivity (mono-versus di-substituted borylated species). Use of equimolecular ratios or excess of BCcat) results in the diborylated product, while higher alkene B(cat)j ratios lead selectively to mono-borylated species. Alkynes (phenylacetylene, diphenylacety-lene) are converted selectively (90-95%) to the c/x-di-borylated products under the same conditions. The mechanism of the reaction possibly involves a-bond metathetical reactions, but no oxidative addition at the copper. This mechanistic model was supported by DFT calculations [68]. 

Fig. 12.4. Successive models of the transition state for Sharpless epoxidation. (a) the hexacoordinate Ti core with uncoordinated alkene (b) Ti with methylhydroperoxide, allyl alcohol, and ethanediol as ligands (c) monomeric catalytic center incorporating t-butylhydroperoxide as oxidant (d) monomeric catalytic center with formyl groups added (e) dimeric transition state with chiral tartrate model (E = CH = O). Reproduced from J. Am. Chem. Soc., 117, 11327 (1995), by permission of the American Chemical Society. 

For the non-oxidative activation of light alkanes, the direct alkylation of toluene with ethane was chosen as an industrially relevant model reaction. The catalytic performance of ZSM-5 zeolites, which are good catalysts for this model reaction, was compared to the one of zeolite MCM-22, which is used in industry for the alkylation of aromatics with alkenes in the liquid phase. The catalytic experiments were carried out in a fixed-bed reactor and in a batch reactor. The results show that the shape-selective properties of zeolite ZSM-5 are more appropriate to favor the dehydroalkylation reaction, whereas on zeolite MCM-22 with its large cavities in the pore system and half-cavities on the external surface the thermodynamically favored side reaction with its large transition state, the disproportionation of toluene, prevails. 

Figure 13. Stereochemical model proposed by Andrus for the allylic oxidation of alkenes using 55c Cu complexes. [Adapted from (109).]...

Scheme 11. Results and stereochemical model proposed by Singh for the allylic oxidation of alkenes using 157-Cu complexes [Adaptedfrom (111).]...

The titanosilicate version of UTD-1 has been shown to be an effective catalyst for the oxidation of alkanes, alkenes, and alcohols (77-79) by using peroxides as the oxidant. The large pores of Ti-UTD-1 readily accommodate large molecules such as 2,6-di-ferf-butylphenol (2,6-DTBP). The bulky 2,6-DTBP substrate can be converted to the corresponding quinone with activity and selectivity comparable to the mesoporous catalysts Ti-MCM-41 and Ti-HMS (80), where HMS = hexagonal mesoporous silica. Both Ti-UTD-1 and UTD-1 have also been prepared as oriented thin films via a laser ablation technique (81-85). Continuous UTD-1 membranes with the channels oriented normal to the substrate surface have been employed in a catalytic oxidation-separation process (82). At room temperature, a cyclohexene-ferf-butylhydroperoxide was passed through the membrane and epoxidation products were trapped on the down stream side. The UTD-1 membranes supported on metal frits have also been evaluated for the separation of linear paraffins and aromatics (83). In a model separation of n-hexane and toluene, enhanced permeation of the linear alkane was observed. Oriented UTD-1 films have also been evenly coated on small 3D objects such as glass and metal beads (84, 85). 

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