Palladium-bathophenanthroline complex alcohol oxidation

A much more active catalyst is constituted by a water-soluble palladium(II) complex of sulfonated bathophenanthroline as a stable, recyclable catalyst for the aerobic oxidation of alcohols in a two-phase aqueous-organic medium, e.g. in Fig. 4.64 [16, 172, 173]. Reactions were generally complete in 5 h at 100°C/ 30 bar air with as little as 0.25 mol% catalyst. No organic solvent is required (unless the substrate is a solid) and the product ketone is easily recovered by phase separation. The catalyst is stable and remains in the aqueous phase which can be recycled to the next batch. 

The palladium(II) complex of sulfonated bathophenanthroline was used in a highly effective aqueous biphasic aerobic oxidation of primary and secondary alcohols to the corresponding aldehydes or carboxylic acids and ketones respectively (Fig. 7.15) [52, 53]. No organic solvent was necessary, unless the substrate was a solid, and turnover frequencies of the order of 100 h-1 were observed. The catalyst could be recovered and recycled by simple phase separation (the aqueous phase is the bottom layer and can be left in the reactor for the next batch). The method constitutes an excellent example of a green catalytic oxidation with oxygen (air) as the oxidant, no organic solvent and a stable recyclable catalyst. 

Recently, we described the use of a water-soluble palladium(II) complex of sulfonated bathophenanthroline as a stable, recyclable catalyst for the aerobic oxidation of alcohols in a two-phase aqueous-organic medium, e.g. in Reaction 16 ... 

Recently, great advancement has been made in the use of air and oxygen as the oxidant for the oxidation of alcohols in aqueous media. Both transition-metal catalysts and organocatalysts have been developed. Complexes of various transition-metals such as cobalt,31 copper [Cu(I) and Cu(II)],32 Fe(III),33 Co/Mn/Br-system,34 Ru(III and IV),35 and V0P04 2H20,36 have been used to catalyze aerobic oxidations of alcohols. Cu(I) complex-based catalytic aerobic oxidations provide a model of copper(I)-containing oxidase in nature.37 Palladium complexes such as water-soluble Pd-bathophenanthroline are selective catalysts for aerobic oxidation of a wide range of alcohols to aldehydes, ketones, and carboxylic acids in a biphasic... 

Pd(II) catalysts have been widely used for aerobic oxidation of alcohols. The catalytic systems Pd(OAc)2-(CH3)2SO [14] and Pd(OAc)2-pyridine [15] oxidize allylic and benzylic alcohols to the corresponding aldehydes and ketones. Secondary aliphatic alcohols, with relatively high water solubility, have been oxidized to the corresponding ketones by air at high pressure, at 100 °C in water, by using a water-soluble bathophenanthroline disulfonate palladium complex [PhenS Pd(OAc)2] [5d]. The Pd catalyst has also been successfully used for aerobic oxidative kinetic resolution of secondary alcohols, using (-)-sparteine [16]. 

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