Lidia S. Shul'pina

Extremely Efficient Alkane Oxidation by a New Catalytic Reagent H2O2/Os3(CO)12/Pyridine

Triosmium dodecacarbonyl catalyzes a very efficient oxidation of alkanes by H(2)O(2) in MeCN to afford alkyl hydroperoxides (primary products) as well as alcohols and ketones (aldehydes) at 60 degrees C if pyridine is added in a low concentration. Turnover numbers attain 60,000, and turnover frequencies are up to 24,000 h(-1).

Alkane oxidation with peroxides catalyzed by cage-like copper( ii ) silsesquioxanes

Isomeric cage-like tetracopper(II) silsesquioxane complexes [(PhSiO1.5)12(CuO)4(NaO0.5)4] (1a), [(PhSiO1.5)6(CuO)4(NaO0.5)4(PhSiO1.5)6] (1b) and binuclear complex [(PhSiO1.5)10(CuO)2(NaO0.5)2] (2) have been studied by various methods. These compounds can be considered as models of some multinuclear copper-containing enzymes. Compounds 1a and 2 are good pre-catalysts for the alkane oxygenation with hydrogen peroxide in air in an acetonitrile solution. Thus, the 1a-catalyzed reaction with cyclohexane at 60 °C gave mainly cyclohexyl hydroperoxide in 17% yield (turnover number, TON, was 190 after 230 min and initial turnover frequency, TOF, was 100 h−1). The alkyl hydroperoxide partly decomposes in the course of the reaction to afford the corresponding ketone and alcohol. The effective activation energy for the cyclohexane oxygenation catalyzed by compounds 1a and 2 is 16 ± 2 and 17 ± 2 kcal mol−1, respectively. Selectivity parameters measured in the oxidation of linear and branched alkanes and the kinetic analysis revealed that the oxidizing species in the reaction is the hydroxyl radical. The analysis of the dependence of the initial reaction rate on the initial concentration of cyclohexane led to a conclusion that hydroxyl radicals attack the cyclohexane molecules in proximity to the copper reaction centers. The oxidations of saturated hydrocarbons with tert-butylhydroperoxide (TBHP) catalyzed by complexes 1a and 2 exhibit unusual selectivity parameters which are due to the steric hindrance created by bulky silsesquioxane ligands surrounding copper reactive centers. Thus, the methylene groups in n-octane have different reactivities: the regioselectivity parameter for the oxidation with TBHP catalyzed by 1a is 1 : 10.5 : 8 : 7. Furthermore, in the oxidation of methylcyclohexane the position 2 relative to the methyl group of this substrate is noticeably less reactive than the corresponding positions 3 and 4. Finally, the oxidation of trans-1,2-dimethylcyclohexane with TBHP catalyzed by complexes 1a and 2 proceeds stereoselectively with the inversion of configuration. The 1a-catalyzed reaction of cyclohexane with H216O2 in an atmosphere of 18O2 gives cyclohexyl hydroperoxide containing up to 50% of 18O. The small amount of cyclohexanone, produced along with cyclohexyl hydroperoxide, is 18O-free and is generated apparently via a mechanism which does not include hydroxyl radicals and incorporation of molecular oxygen from the atmosphere.

A Heterometallic (Fe6Na8) Cage-like Silsesquioxane: Synthesis, Structure, Spin Glass Behavior and High Catalytic Activity

The exotic “Asian Lantern” heterometallic cage silsesquioxane [(PhSiO1.5)20(FeO1.5)6(NaO0.5)8(n-BuOH)9.6(C7H8)] (I) was obtained and characterized by X-ray diffraction, EXAFS, topological analyses and DFT calculation. The magnetic property investigations revealed that it shows an unusual spin glass-like behavior induced by a particular triangular arrangement of Fe(III) ions. Cyclohexane and other alkanes as well as benzene can be oxidized to the corresponding alkyl hydroperoxides and phenol, respectively, by hydrogen peroxide in air in the presence of catalytic amounts of complex I and nitric acid. The I-catalyzed reaction of cyclohexane, c-C6H12, with H216O2 in an atmosphere of 18O2 gave a mixture of labeled and non-labeled cyclohexyl hydroperoxides, c-C6H11–16O–16OH and c-C6H11–18O–18OH, respectively, with an 18O incorporation level of ca. 12%. Compound I also revealed high efficiency in the oxidative amidation of alcohols into amides: in the presence of complex I, only 500 ppm of iron was allowed to reach TON and TOF values of 1660 and 92 h−1.

Oxidation of hydrocarbons with H2O2/O2 catalyzed by osmium complexes containing p-cymene ligands in acetonitrile

The soluble osmium complexes containing p-cymene (π-p-cym) ligands, [(η6-p-cym)OsCl2]2 (1), [(η6-p-cym)Os(bipy)Cl]PF6 (2), and [(η6-p-cym)2Os2(μ-H)3]PF6 (3), are efficient catalysts for the oxidation of alkanes (cyclohexane, n-heptane, methylcyclohexane, isooctane, and cis- and trans-1,2-dimethylcyclohexane) with hydrogen peroxide in air to the corresponding alkyl hydroperoxides in acetonitrile solution if a small amount of pyridine is present in the solution. The binuclear complex 1 is the most active precatalyst in the oxidation whereas compound 2 containing the bipyridine ligand is much less efficient. The oxidation of cyclohexane at 60 °C and low concentration [1]0 = 10−7 M gave a turnover number (TON) of 200 200 after 24 h. A study of the selectivity parameters in the oxidation of linear and branched alkanes and the kinetic peculiarities of the cyclohexane oxidation led to the conclusion that the main reaction mechanism includes the formation of hydroxyl radicals. The effective activation energy Ea for the cyclohexane oxidation catalyzed by complex 1 was 10 ± 2 kcal mol−1. A kinetic analysis verified also that monomerization of complex 1 occurs before the oxidizing species is involved in the catalytic cycle. The 1-catalyzed reaction of cyclohexane, c-C6H12, with H216O2 in an atmosphere of 18O2 gave labeled cyclohexyl hydroperoxide, c-C6H11–18O–18OH. In addition, a small amount of “light” cyclohexanone, c-C6H1016O, is produced apparently via a mechanism which includes neither hydroxyl radicals nor incorporation of molecular oxygen from the atmosphere. The oxidation of benzene with H216O2 under 18O2 gave phenol which did not contain the 18O isotope. The reactions with cyclohexane and benzene were shown to proceed also via an alternative minor mechanism with oxo derivatives of high-valent osmium “OsO” as key oxidizing species.

Cage-like Fe,Na-Germsesquioxanes: Structure, Magnetism, and Catalytic Activity

A series of four unprecedented heterometallic metallagermsesquioxanes were synthesized. Their cage-like architectures have a unique type of molecular topology consisting of the hexairon oxo {Fe6 O19 } core surrounded in a triangular manner by three cyclic germoxanolates [PhGe(O)O]5 . This structural organization induces antiferromagnetic interactions between the FeIII ions through the oxygen atoms. Evaluated for this first time in catalysis, these compounds showed a high catalytic activity in the oxidation of alkanes and the oxidative formation of benzamides from alcohols.

Ionic Complexes of Tetra- and Nonanuclear Cage Copper(II) Phenylsilsesquioxanes: Synthesis and High Activity in Oxidative Catalysis

Herein, we describe an approach to cage metallasilsesquioxanes by self‐assembly with 1,2‐bis(diphenylphosphino)ethane as a key reactant. This approach allowed us to achieve a unique family of complexes that includes anionic tetra‐ and nonanuclear cage copper(II) sodium silsesquioxane and cationic copper(I) 1,2‐bis(diphenylphosphino)ethane components. Additional representatives of this intriguing metallasilsesquioxane family (Cu9Na6 and Cu9Na3Cs3) were obtained through the replacement of the original ethanol‐based reaction medium by DMSO. The fascinating structural peculiarities of all products were established by using XRD and topological studies. Initial tests for the application of the synthesized complexes as catalysts revealed their very high activity in the homogeneous oxidation of alkanes and alcohols to produce alkyl hydroperoxides, ketones, and amides.

Oxidative functionalization of C–H compounds induced by the extremely efficient osmium catalysts (a review)

Osmium derivatives are not as popular among catalytic chemists as the compounds of iron (an analog of osmium), copper, or manganese. Although osmium is expensive, poisonous and volatile, it finds applications not only in cis-hydroxylation of olefins but its derivatives have recently been employed in the oxygenation of C–H compounds (saturated and aromatic hydrocarbons and alcohols) by hydrogen peroxide as well as organic peroxides. The turnover in alkane oxidations catalyzed by soluble osmium derivatives has been found to be much higher than analogous reactions that used complexes of other transition metals (e.g., iron, manganese or copper). Using certain additives, the authors of this review have developed osmium-containing systems that are extremely efficient in transforming alkanes into corresponding alkyl hydroperoxides, which can further be reduced to alcohols easily. The new catalytic systems described here are capable of producing ground-breaking results in the field of metal-complex catalysts.