Wacker phase transfer catalysis

The synthetic applications of the palladium-catalyzed oxidation of alkenes to ketones have recently been reviewed.639 Improvements in the Wacker palladium-catalyzed ketonization of terminal alkenes have been obtained using phase-transfer catalysis,641 polyethylene glycol642 or phosphomolybdovanadic acids.643... 

Although the Wacker-type oxidation of olefins has been applied since the early 1980s, processes involving higher olefins are stiU the subject of investigations due to their poor solubility in water. Particularly interesting in this context is the inverse phase-transfer catalysis using water-soluble host molectdes. Indeed, upon a careful choice of the substituent, these receptor molecules avoid the isomerization into internal olefins or make it possible to perform substrate selective oxidations that cannot be achieved a biphasic medium with conventional transition metal catalysts. 

H. Ito, T. Kusukawa, M. Fujita, Wacker oxidation in an aqueous phase through the reverse phase-transfer catalysis of a self-assembled nanocage, Chem. Lett., 2000, 598. 

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