Oxidative alkenes, carboxylic acids, palladium chloride

With hydrogen peroxide or, better, t-butylhydroperoxide as the oxidant, the combination of palladium acetate and hydroquinone forms an efficient catalyst system, which does not require other cocatalysts. Using t-butylhydroperoxide as the oxidant, it is possible to react a series of different carboxylates with alkenes in methylene chloride solution. For instance, (5)-0-acetylmandelic acid was reacted with cyclohexene to give the addition product with a modest chiral induction (de ca. 20%). Also, intramolecular cyclization could be achieved for example, 2-cyclopenten-l-acetic acid gave mainly the allylic lactone in good yield, accompanied by a small amount of the double bond isomer (Scheme 9). 

The palladium(II)-catalyzed olefin carbonylation reaction was first reported more than 30 years ago in studies by Stille and co-workers and James et al. The reaction of carbon monoxide with cis- and tra 5-but-2-ene in methanol in the presence of palladium(II)-chloride and copper(II)-chloride yielded threo- and eryt/zro-3-methoxy-2-methyl-butanoate, respectively. The transformation that was based on the well-known Wacker process for oxidation of ethylene into acetaldehyde in water " is now broadly defined as the Pd(II)-catalyzed oxycarbonylation of the unsaturated carbon-carbon bonds. This domino reaction includes oxypalladation of alkenes, migratory insertion of carbon monoxide, and alkoxylation. Since the development of this process, several transformations mediated by palladium(II) compounds have been described. The direct oxidative bisfunctionalization of alkenes represents a powerful transformation in the field of chemical synthesis. Palladium(II)-promoted carbonylation of alkenes in the presence of water/alcohol may lead to alkyl carboxylic acids (hydrocarboxylation), diesters [bis(aIkoxycarbonyla-tion)], (3-alkoxy carboxylic acids (alkoxy-carboxylation), or (3-alkoxy esters (alkoxy-carbonylation or alkoxy-alkoxy-carbonylation). Particularly attractive features of these multitransformation processes include the following ... 

Cuprous chloride tends to form water-soluble complexes with lower olefins and acts as an IPTC catalyst, e.g., in the two-phase hydrolysis of alkyl chlorides to alcohols with sodium carboxylate solution [10,151] and in the Prins reactions between 1-alkenes and aqueous formaldehyde in the presence of HCl to form 1,3-glycols [10]. Similarly, water-soluble rhodium-based catalysts (4-diphenylphosphinobenzoic acid and tri-Cs-io-alkylmethylam-monium chlorides) were used as IPTC catalysts for the hydroformylation of hexene, dodecene, and hexadecene to produce aldehydes for the fine chemicals market [152]. Palladium diphenyl(potassium sulfonatobenzyl)phosphine and its oxide complexes catalyzed the IPTC dehalogenation reactions of allyl and benzyl halides [153]. Allylic substrates such as cinnamyl ethyl carbonate and nucleophiles such as ethyl acetoactate and acetyl acetone catalyzed by a water-soluble bis(dibenzylideneacetone)palladium or palladium complex of sulfonated triphenylphosphine gave regio- and stereo-specific alkylation products in quantitative yields [154]. Ito et al. used a self-assembled nanocage as an IPTC catalyst for the Wacker oxidation of styrene catalyzed by (en)Pd(N03) [155]. 

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