Osmic esters, cyclic

Another method for the hydroxylation of the etliylenic linkage consists in treatment of the alkene with osmium tetroxide in an inert solvent (ether or dioxan) at room temperature for several days an osmic ester is formed which either precipitates from the reaction mixture or may be isolated by evaporation of the solvent. Hydrolysis of the osmic ester in a reducing medium (in the presence of alkaline formaldehyde or of aqueous-alcoholic sodium sulphite) gives the 1 2-glycol and osmium. The glycol has the cis structure it is probably derived from the cyclic osmic ester ... 

There are a number of reagents that, overall, add two OH groups to alkenes. Thus osmium tetroxide, 0s04, adds to yield cyclic osmic esters (46), which can be made to undergo ready hydrolytic cleavage of their Os—O bonds to yield the 1,2-diol (47) ... 

Cyclic osmic esters have long been known to be involved in the osmium tetroxide-catalyzed cis-dihydroxylation of alkenes, but not arenes. The isolation of compound (18) by Wallis and Kochi following irradiation of the charge-transfer complex between osmium tetroxide and benzene is therefore of particular interest. This suggests that the corresponding use of catalytic quantities of osmixim tetroxide in conjunction with hydrogen peroxide could lead to the formation of polyhydroxylated cyclohexenes and -anes. 

Hydroxylation of olefins by hydrogen peroxide in the presence of osmium tetroxide leads to cis-glycols because a cyclic osmic ester is formed as intermediate and the cis-glycol is formed by hydrolysis of that intermediate. Other catalysts afford fraws-hydroxylation, which occurs by way of an intermediate epoxide.138... 

Cis 2-butene (48a) thus yields the meso 1,2-diol (47), i.e. the overall hydroxylation is stereoselectively SYN, as would be expected from Os—O cleavage in a necessarily cis cyclic ester (46). The disadvantage of this reaction as a preparative method is the expense and toxicity of 0s04. This may, however, be overcome by using it in catalytic quantities only, but in association with H202 which re-oxidises the osmic acid, (HO)2OsOz, formed to 0s04. 

Osmium tetroxide (0s04, sometimes called osmic acid) reacts with alkenes in a concerted step to form a cyclic osmate ester. Oxidizing agents such as hydrogen peroxide (H202) or tertiary amine oxides (R3N+—O-) are used to hydrolyze the osmate ester and reoxidize osmium to osmium tetroxide. The regenerated osmium tetroxide catalyst continues to hydroxylate more molecules of the alkene. 

The role of osmium tetroxide in cis hydroxylation has been established. A cyclic ester of osmic acid 94 is formed. Hydrolysis produces an Os... 

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