A silica gel-supported ruthenium complex of 1,4,7-trimethyl-1,4,7-triazacyclononane as recyclable catalyst for chemoselective oxidation of alcohols and alkenes by tert-butyl hydroperoxide.
A silica gel-immobilized [(Me(3)tacn)Ru(III)(CF(3)COO)(2)(H(2)O)]CF(3)CO(2) complex (1-SiO(2), Me(3)tacn = 1,4,7-trimethyl-1,4,7-triazacyclononane) was prepared by simple impregnation, and the catalyst was characterized by powdered X-ray diffraction, nitrogen adsorption/desorption, Raman, and diffuse reflectance UV-vis spectroscopies. The supported Ru catalyst can effect facile oxidation of alcohols by tert-butyl hydroperoxide (TBHP). Primary and secondary benzyl, allylic, and propargylic alcohols were transformed to their corresponding aldehydes and ketones in excellent yields; no oxidation of the C=C and Ctbd1;C bonds was observed for the allylic and propargylic alcohol oxidations. Likewise alkene epoxidation by TBHP can be achieved by 1-SiO(2); cycloalkenes such as norbornene and cyclooctene were oxidized to their exo-epoxides exclusively in excellent yields (>95%). The 1-SiO(2) catalyst can be recycled and reused for consecutive alcohol and alkene oxidations without significant loss of catalytic activity and selectivity; over 9000 turnovers have been attained for the oxidation of 1-phenyl-1-propanol to 1-phenyl-1-propanone. 4-Substituted phenols were oxidized by the "1 + TBHP" protocol to give exclusively ruthenium-catecholate complexes, which were characterized by UV-vis and ESI-MS spectroscopies. No (tert-butyldioxy)cyclohexadienone and other radical coupling/overoxidation products were produced using the "1 + TBHP" protocol. The formation of ruthenium-catecholate is proposed to proceed via ortho-hydroxylation of phenol.
Cheung
Wai-Hung
WH
Department of Chemistry and Open Laboratory of Chemical Biology of the Institute of Molecular Technology for Drug Discovery and Synthesis, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong.
Yu
Wing-Yiu
WY
Yip
Wing-Ping
WP
Zhu
Nian-Yong
NY
Che
Chi-Ming
CM