title: Ruthenium-catalyzed asymmetric epoxidation of olefins using H2O2, part II: catalytic activities and mechanism.
abstract: Asymmetric epoxidation of olefins with 30 % H2O2 in the presence of [Ru(pybox)(pydic)] 1 and [Ru(pyboxazine)(pydic)] 2 has been studied in detail (pybox = pyridine-2,6-bisoxazoline, pyboxazine = pyridine-2,6-bisoxazine, pydic = 2,6-pyridinedicarboxylate). 35 Ruthenium complexes with sterically and electronically different substituents have been tested in environmentally benign epoxidation reactions. Mono-, 1,1-di-, cis- and trans-1,2-di-, tri-, and tetra-substituted aromatic olefins with versatile functional groups can be epoxidized with this type of catalyst in good to excellent yields (up to 100 %) with moderate to good enantioselectivies (up to 84 % ee). Additive and solvent effects as well as the relative rate of reaction with different catalysts have been established. It is shown that the presence of weak organic acids or an electron-withdrawing group on the catalyst increases the reactivity. New insights on the reaction intermediates and reaction pathway of the ruthenium-catalyzed epoxidation are proposed on the basis of density functional theory calculation and experiments.
authors.affiliation: Leibniz-Institut für Organische Katalyse an der Universität Rostock e.V. Albert-Einstein-Strasse 29a, 18059 Rostock (Germany).
authors.forename: Man Kin
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Tse
authors.forename: Santosh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bhor
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Klawonn
authors.forename: Gopinathan
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Anilkumar
authors.forename: Haijun
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Jiao
authors.forename: Anke
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Spannenberg
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Döbler
authors.forename: Wolfgang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Mägerlein
authors.forename: Herbert
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hugl
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Beller