Oxidation alkyl zinc reagents

Progress from a synthetic point of view has been achieved in the selective oxidation of alkyl zinc reagents with oxygen in perfluoro-hexane solutions to give good yields of either hydroperoxides or alcohols. [28] As many zinc organometallics are easily obtained from olefins via a hydroboration/boron-zinc exchange sequence or by a nickel catalyzed hydro- or carbozincation reaction, this method may proof its synthetic potential in the future development. 

Many organic ions are stable only in organic solvents, in particular aprotic media. Thus the oxidation of Grignard reagents and of the alkyls and aryls of alkali metals can be conducted only in ethers. The field has been reviewed by several authors. " The products are characteristic of radical intermediates, hydrocarbons being formed by disproportionation and dimerisation reactions and metal alkyls by reaction of the radicals with the anode material when anodes of lead, cadmium, zinc or aluminium are employed. 

The lithium reduction of zinc (II) cyanide using naphthalene or biphenyl as a catalytic electron carrier yields a more reactive form of Rieke zinc. This new form of Rieke zinc is able to undergo direct oxidative addition to alkyl chlorides under mild conditions and tolerates the presence of nitriles and bulky tertiary amides [17]. Table 3.5 shows representative reactions of alkyl zinc chloride reagents with benzoyl chloride. The activation of the zinc surfeice could originate by the adsorption of the Lewis base cyanide ion on the metal surface. The adsorbed cyanide ion can affect the metal s reactivity in two possible ways. One possible mode of activation would be the reduction of the metal s work function in the vicinity of the adsorbed cyanide ion, and the second could be that the cyanide ion is acting as a conduction path for the transfer of the metal s electrons to the alkyl chloride. One or both processes could account for the observed enhanced chemical reactivity. 

This was also accomplished with BaRu(0)2(OH)3. The same type of conversion, with lower yields (20-30%), has been achieved with the Gif system There are several variations. One consists of pyridine-acetic acid, with H2O2 as oxidizing agent and tris(picolinato)iron(III) as catalyst. Other Gif systems use O2 as oxidizing agent and zinc as a reductant. The selectivity of the Gif systems toward alkyl carbons is CH2 > CH > CH3, which is unusual, and shows that a simple free-radical mechanism (see p. 899) is not involved. ° Another reagent that can oxidize the CH2 of an alkane is methyl(trifluoromethyl)dioxirane, but this produces CH—OH more often than C=0 (see 14-4). ... 

This procedure, which is based entirely on commercially available reagents, is very easy to reproduce. Table 6.12 shows different aryl- and alkyl-substituted enones that can be epoxidised with high asymmetric induction with the in situ formed (/ )-BINOL-zinc-catalyst in diethyl ether, with cumene hydroperoxide as the terminal oxidant. 

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