Biomaterial Database

Efficient epoxidation of alkenes with aqueous hydrogen peroxide catalyzed by methyltrioxorhenium and 3-cyanopyridine. 2000

H Adolfsson, and C Copéret, and J P Chiang, and A K Yudin

Department of Chemistry and the Skaggs Institute of Chemical Biology, The Scripps Research Institute, 10550 North Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, California 90237, USA. hansa@organ.su.se

The epoxidation of alkenes with 30% aqueous hydrogen peroxide is catalyzed efficiently by methyltrioxorhenium (MTO) in the presence of pyridine additives. The addition of 1-10 mol % of 3-cyanopyridine increases the system's efficiency for terminal and trans-disubstituted alkenes resulting in high isolated yields of the corresponding epoxides. The system allows for epoxidation of alkenes with various functional groups. Alkenes leading to acid-sensitive products are efficiently epoxidized using a mixture of pyridine and 3-cyanopyridine as additives. This method is operationally very simple and uses an environmentally benign oxidant. The effects of different pyridine additives on the alkene conversion and the catalyst lifetime are discussed.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D009942	Organometallic Compounds	A class of compounds of the type R-M, where a C atom is joined directly to any other element except H, C, N, O, F, Cl, Br, I, or At. (Grant & Hackh's Chemical Dictionary, 5th ed)	Metallo-Organic Compound,Metallo-Organic Compounds,Metalloorganic Compound,Organometallic Compound,Metalloorganic Compounds,Compound, Metallo-Organic,Compound, Metalloorganic,Compound, Organometallic,Compounds, Metallo-Organic,Compounds, Metalloorganic,Compounds, Organometallic,Metallo Organic Compound,Metallo Organic Compounds
D011725	Pyridines	Compounds with a six membered aromatic ring containing NITROGEN. The saturated version is PIPERIDINES.
D002384	Catalysis	The facilitation of a chemical reaction by material (catalyst) that is not consumed by the reaction.	Catalyses
D004852	Epoxy Compounds	Organic compounds that include a cyclic ether with three ring atoms in their structure. They are commonly used as precursors for POLYMERS such as EPOXY RESINS.	Epoxide,Epoxides,Epoxy Compound,Oxiranes,Compound, Epoxy,Compounds, Epoxy
D006861	Hydrogen Peroxide	A strong oxidizing agent used in aqueous solution as a ripening agent, bleach, and topical anti-infective. It is relatively unstable and solutions deteriorate over time unless stabilized by the addition of acetanilide or similar organic materials.	Hydrogen Peroxide (H2O2),Hydroperoxide,Oxydol,Perhydrol,Superoxol,Peroxide, Hydrogen
D000475	Alkenes	Unsaturated hydrocarbons of the type Cn-H2n, indicated by the suffix -ene. (Grant & Hackh's Chemical Dictionary, 5th ed, p408)	Alkene,Olefin,Olefins,Pentene,Pentenes