Oppenauer oxidation catalysts

Ishihara, K., Kurihara, H., Yamamoto, H. Bis(pentafluorophenyl)borinic Acid as a Highly Effective Oppenauer Oxidation Catalyst for Allylic... 

The widely used Moifatt-Pfltzner oxidation works with in situ formed adducts of dimethyl sulfoxide with dehydrating agents, e.g. DCC, AcjO, SO], P4O10, CCXTl] (K.E, Pfitzner, 1965 A.H. Fenselau, 1966 K.T. Joseph, 1967 J.G. Moffatt, 1971 D. Martin, 1971) or oxalyl dichloride (Swem oxidation M. Nakatsuka, 1990). A classical procedure is the Oppenauer oxidation with ketones and aluminum alkoxide catalysts (C. Djerassi, 1951 H. Lehmann, 1975). All of these reagents also oxidize secondary alcohols to ketones but do not attack C = C double bonds or activated C —H bonds. 

The most common catalysts for the Meerwein-Ponndorf-Verley reduction and Oppenauer oxidation are Alm and Lnm isopropoxides, often in combination with 2-propanol as hydride donor and solvent. These alkoxide ligands are readily exchanged under formation of 2-propanol and the metal complexes of the substrate (Scheme 20.5). Therefore, the catalytic species is in fact a mixture of metal alkoxides. 

Catalytic reduction of codeine gives dihydrocodeine and Oppenauer oxidation (a ketone such as acetone and an aluminum alkoxide, the ketone being reduced to an alcohol) gives hydrocodone. Hydrocodone can also be prepared directly from codeine with a metal catalyst, which isomerizes the allylic alcohol to a ketone. Codeine is prepared by methylation of morphine, which is isolated from the opium poppy. Hydrocodone is more potent than codeine. Acetaminophen is a mild analgesic and is discussed in Section 8. 

The oxidation of 2-ethylhexan-l-ol to 2-ethyl-hexanal by the Oppenauer oxidation with aliphatic aldehydes such as acetaldehyde, propionaldehyde, and isobutyr-aldehyde has been investigated with gas-phase reactants and MgO as the catalyst (196). Reaction with propionaldehyde was found to be an effective synthetic route for 2-ethylhexanal preparation, whereas with acetaldehyde and isobutyraldehyde a gradual catalyst deactivation in a flow reactor was observed. 

Meerwein-Pondorf-Verley reduction, discovered in the 1920s, is the transfer hydrogenation of carbonyl compounds by alcohols, catalyzed by basic metal compounds (e.g., alkoxides) [56-58]. The same reaction viewed as oxidation of alcohols [59] is called Oppenauer oxidation. Suitable catalysts include homogeneous as well as heterogeneous systems, containing a wide variety of metals like Li, Mg, Ca, Al, Ti, 2r and lanthanides. The subject has been reviewed recently [22]. In this review we will concentrate on homogeneous catalysis by aluminium. Most aluminium alkoxides will catalyze MPV reduction. 

Normally, Oppenauer oxidations are performed employing Al3+ cations as catalyst because aluminium alkoxides possess a good balance of a desired high hydride transfer capability versus a low propensity to promote undesired base-induced reactions, like aldol condensations and Tischtschenko reactions. In the reaction, as originally described by Oppenauer, aluminium t-butoxide is used as catalyst,4 because its high basicity allows a very favourable equilibrium towards the formation of the aluminium alkoxide of the alcohol whose oxidation is desired. However,... 

Regardless of the veracity of the proposed assembling depicted in Figure 6.1, the fact remains that the catalyst 67 is highly efficient in the promotion of Oppenauer oxidations under mild conditions and have been employed in a very elegant way in oxidation-reduction transformations, in which in the same molecule a secondary alcohol is oxidized while an aldehyde is reduced with no addition of external redox reagents. 

Maruoka s group also developed the extremely active aluminium compound 68,38 which in a proportion as low as 1 mol% is able to promote the oxidation of alcohols with pivalaldehyde or acetone at room temperature. Oppenauer oxidations employing catalyst 68 succeed in a variety of secondary and primary alcohols, providing yields of aldehydes and ketones above 80% in a consistent way. Only lineal primary aliphatic alcohols fail to be cleanly oxidized to the corresponding aldehydes. 

Carboxamidation of RLi or RMgX.1 This reaction can be effected by reaction of RLi (or RMgX) with DMF to give a hemiaminal a followed by an Oppenauer oxidation. The second step requires the presence of a magnesium alkoxide such as magnesium 2-ethoxyethoxide 1, Mg(OCH2CH2OC2H5)2, either as a catalyst for the oxidation or for stabilization of a, possibly as a mixed cluster. 

A zirconium complex, bis(cyclopenta(Uenyl)zirconium(IV) hydride will function as a catalyst for the chemoselective Oppenauer oxidation of primary alcohols in the presence of a hydrogen acceptor (cyclohexanone, benzaldehyde or benzophenone). This method appears to be of some value, since it also allows for the selective monooxidation of primary (and secondary) diols (Scheme 3). 1,2-Diols are not cleaved under these conditions and retro-aldol reactions appear not to be a problem. 

The Oppenauer oxidation of alcohols (by a ketone in excess, with an aluminium alkoxide as catalyst) proceeds by hydride transfer through a cyclic transition state (7) in which a molecule of the alcohol and a molecule of the reagent ketone (e.g. acetone) are simultaneously coordinated to one aluminium atom [39]. The reaction actually establishes an equilibrium... 

Maruoka has successfully developed a highly accelerated Oppenauer oxidation [31,32] system using a bidentate aluminum catalyst [29]. This modified, catalytic system effectively oxidizes a variety of secondary alcohols to the corresponding ketones as shown in Sch. 9. For example, reaction of (2,7-dimethyl-l,8-biphenylene-dioxy)bis(dimethylaluminum) (8, 5 moI%) with carveol (14) at room temperature in the presence of 4-A molecular sieves, and subsequent treatment with pivalaldehyde (3 equiv.) at room temperature for 5 h yielded carvone (15) in 91 % yield. Under these oxidation conditions, cholesterol (16) was converted to 4-cholesten-3-one (17) in 75 % yield (91 % yield with 5 equiv. t-BuCHO). 

---