Wacker solvent

The method is basically an application of the Wacker oxidation except that the catalyst used is palladium acetate ( Pd(AcO)2 or Pd(02CCH3)2). the solvent is acetic acid or tert-butyl alcohol and the oxygen source is the previously suggested hydrogen peroxide (H202)[17]. 

Although Pd is cheaper than Rh and Pt, it is still expensive. In Pd(0)- or Pd(ll)-catalyzed reactions, particularly in commercial processes, repeated use of Pd catalysts is required. When the products are low-boiling, they can be separated from the catalyst by distillation. The Wacker process for the production of acetaldehyde is an example. For less volatile products, there are several approaches to the economical uses of Pd catalysts. As one method, an alkyldi-phenylphosphine 9, in which the alkyl group is a polyethylene chain, is prepared as shown. The Pd complex of this phosphine has low solubility in some organic solvents such as toluene at room temperature, and is soluble at higher temperature[28]. Pd(0)-catalyzed reactions such as an allylation reaction of nucleophiles using this complex as a catalyst proceed smoothly at higher temperatures. After the reaction, the Pd complex precipitates and is recovered when the reaction mixture is cooled. 

This regiochemistry is consistent with the electrophilic character of Pd(II) in the addition step. Solvent and catalyst composition can affect the regiochemistry of the Wacker reaction. Use of /-butanol as the solvent was found to increase the amount of aldehyde formed from terminal alkenes, and is attributed to the greater steric requirement of /-butanol. Hydrolysis of the enol ether then leads to the aldehyde. 

Wacker oxidation of l-alkenes. The Wacker oxygenation of 1-alkenes to methyl ketones involves air oxidation catalyzed by PdCl2 and CuCU, which is necessary for reoxidation of Pd(0) to Pd(II).1 This oxygenation is fairly sluggish and can result in chlorinated by-products. A new system is comprised of catalytic amounts of Pd(OAc)2, hydroquinone, and 1, used as the oxygen activator.2 The solvent is aqueous DMF, and a trace of HClOj is added to prevent precipitation of Pd(0). Oxygenation using this system of three catalysts effects Wacker oxidation of 1-alkenes in 2-8 hours and in 67-85% yield. 

Polyethylene glycols (PEG) have been employed as phase transfer agents (and as solvents) in a number of reactions(11). Application of PEG-400 to the Wacker reaction results in the oxidation of both terminal and internal olefins (e.g., isomeric butenes to butanone) (12). 

The impressive activity achieved by Teles catalyst was improved some years later by the use of CO as an additive [92]. In this study, Hayashi and Tanaka reported a TOF of 15600h 1, at least two orders of magnitude higher than [as-PtCl2(tppts)2], for the hydration of alkynes, providing an alternative synthetic route to the Wacker oxidation. Although several solvents were tested, the best results were obtained with aqueous methanol, and sulfuric acid or HTfO as acidic promoters. Unlike Utimoto s observation, in this case terminal propargylic alcohols partially (17-20%) delivered anti-Markovnikov product, in addition to the Markovnikov species. Some years before, Wakatsuki et al. had already reported the anti-Markovnikov hydration of terminal alkynes catalyzed by ruthenium(II) [93]. 

Wacker oxidation. Tsuji et al.s have developed two procedures for oxidation of 1-alkenes to methyl ketones with oxygen that are catalyzed by PdCl2 (7, 278 9, 327). The solvent in both cases is aqueous DMF. One method uses PdCl2-CuCl (molar ratio 1 10) the other uses PdCl2 and p-benzoquinone (molar ratio 1 100). Both procedures are about equivalent for oxidation of simple l-alkenes to methyl ketones, but the former method is usually more effective for oxidation of more complex 1-alkenes. 

Higher alkenes can also be converted to methyl ketones with the Wacker catalyst, but the rates and selectivities are lower. Improved procedures use basic406,407 or alcoholic solvents 408 Tsuji and coworkers used the PdCl2/CuCl catalyst in DMF for the synthesis of a variety of natural products and fine chemicals.409 Only terminal alkenes are ketonized under these conditions, even when the substrate contains other functional groups.395... 

Textbook chemistry (297,298) teaches that palladium is the preferred catalyst for aerobic oxidation of olefins. When water is the solvent, nucleophilic water addition to coordinated olefins is the key step in the so-called Wacker cycle. Wacker oxidation occurs regiospecifically because a carbonyl group is formed at that carbon atom of the double bond where the nucleophile in a Markovnikov-like addition would enter. The Wacker reaction thus yields methylketones from primary alkenes ... 

However, all these systems suffer from high concentrations of chloride ion, so that substantial amounts of chlorinated by-products are formed. For these reasons there is a definite need for chloride- and copper-free systems for Wacker oxidations. One such system has been recently described, viz., the aerobic oxidation of terminal olefins in an aqueous biphasic system (no additional solvent)... 

Moreover, it was disclosed that PdCl2 in combination with N,N-dimethylaceta-mide (DMA) solvent could offer a simple and efficient catalyst system for acid-and Cu-free Wacker oxidation [102]. The reaction is illustrated in Fig. 4.37. A wide range of terminal olefins could be oxidized to form the corresponding methyl ketones in high yields, reaching a TOF up to 17 h-1. The Pd-DMA catalyst layer could be recycled. Furthermore this system is also capable of per-... 

For example, PEG-200 and PEG-400 (the number refers to the average molecular weight) were used as solvents for the aerobic oxidation of benzylic alcohols catalyzed by the polyoxometalate, H5PV2Mo10O40 [8]. Combination of the same polyoxometalate with Pd(II) was used to catalyze the Wacker oxidation of propyl-... 

TRI-NOx A process for removing NOx and nitric acid mists from the waste gases from the manufacture of electronic devices. It uses multistage scrubbing with a proprietary solvent. Developed by Wacker Siltronic Corporation, based on a scrubber engineered and manufactured by Tri-Mer Corporation. 

A solvent combination of. vcC02- C4Ciim PF6 was found to afford superior selectivity in the Wacker-type oxidation of 1-hexene with PdCl2-CuCl as catalyst to afford 2-hexanone as the main product as shown in Scheme 5.16.[73] In the absence of either scC02 or ionic liquid, considerably lower selectivity for 2-hexanone was observed. Catalyst solutions were recycled five times with a low, but steady, decrease in activity. 

A Pd-catalyzed oxidative cyclization of phenols with oxygen as stoichiometric oxidant in the noncoordinating solvent toluene has been developed for the synthesis of dihydrobenzo[ ]furans (Equation 136). Asymmetric variants of this Wacker-type cyclization have been reported by Hayashi and co-workers employing cationic palladium/2,2 -bis(oxazolin-2-yl)-l,l -binaphthyl (boxax) complexes <1998JOC5071>. Stoltz and co-workers have reported ee s of up to 90% when (—)-sparteine is used as a chiral base instead of pyridine <2003AGE2892, 2005JA17778>. Attempts to effect such a heteroatom cyclization with primary alcohols as substrates, on the other hand, led to product mixtures contaminated with aldehydes and alkene isomers, which is in contrast to the reactions with the Pd(ii)/02 system in DMSO <1995TL7749>. 

Acrylic acid is an important material for the chemical Industry, either as such or in (he form of acrylates and acrylamides. The Union Oil synthesis of acrylic acid from ethylene is performed at 140-150 C, 77 atm, C2 H4/CO 1 (Otalyst 0.1% PdOj. 0.5% CUCI2 in the presence of lithium acetate and chloride). The solvent is a mixture of acetic acid and acetic anhydride (about 20%) 24. The chemical steps of this Wacker-type catalysis are outlined ... 

The point has been made that the conditions of p-chloroethanol formation are not the same as used for the Wacker oxidation. Cu Pd chlorine-bridged dimers are likely reactants under higher [Cl ] reaction conditions, which may lead to a different reaction mechanism. However, a second stereochemical study also obtained results consistent with trans hydroxypaUadation. When cfr-l,2-dideuteroethene is oxidized in water with PdCl2 under a CO atmosphere, the product is tran5 -2,3-dideutero-jS-propiolactone (Scheme 37). The reaction conditions were, once again, not identical with standard Wacker process conditions, since the solvent was acetonitrile water, the temperature was —25°C, the bis-ethene PdCl2 complex was used, and there was no excess Cl present. Nevertheless, it is clear that, under many reaction conditions, a trans addition of water onto ethene coordinated to Pd is the favored reaction stereochemistry. 

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