Inorganic Chemistry, Vol.44, No.26, 9771-9778, 2005
Fluorocarbon soluble copper(II) carboxylate complexes with nonfluoroponytailed nitrogen ligands as precatalysts for the oxidation of alkenols and alcohols under fluorous biphasic or thermomorphic modes: Structural and mechanistic aspects
This fluorous biphasic catalysis (FBC) contribution was focused on the synthesis and characterization of new fluorous soluble Rf-Cu(II) carboxylate complexes containing nonfluoroponytailed ligands and defines their role as precatalysts for the FBC oxidation of alkenols and alcohols in the presence of 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-N-oxyl (TEMPO)/O-2. In this FBC approach, we have utilized the phase-switching technique of Vincent et al. (J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2002, 124, 12942) to solubilize the nonfluoroponytailed ligands, N-1,4,7-Me(3)TACN, 2, and N-1,4,7-pentamethyldiethylenetriamine (PMDETA), 3, by reaction with a fluorous solvent-soluble copper (II) dimeric complex, [CU({C8F17(CH2)(2)}(2)-CHCO2)(2)}(2), 1. Moreover, the reaction of nonfluoroponytailed ligands 2 and 3 with 1 afforded new perfluoroheptane-soluble Cu(II) complexes, [Cu({C8F17(CH2)(2)}(2)CHCO2)(2)(2)], 4, and [Cu({C8F17(CH2)(2)}(2)CHCO2)(2) (3)], 5, respectively. The known Cu(II) complex, 1, was further characterized by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy confirming its dimeric structure, while 4 and 5 were characterized by elemental analysis, IR, diffuse reflectance UV-vis, and EPR spectroscopy. Furthermore, 1, 4, and 5 were evaluated as precatalysts for alkenol and alcohol oxidation. The oxidation reactions of alkenols and alcohols in the presence of TEMPO/O-2 proceeded under FBC conditions for 1, 4, and 5, but 1-octanol was unreactive under single-phase FBC conditions at 90 degrees C with TEMPO/O-2. The thermomorphic property of 5, soluble in chlorobenzene/toluene at 90 degrees C but insoluble at room temperature, was also evaluated in the selective oxidation of p-nitrobenzyl alcohol to p-nitrobenzaldehyde. Plausible mechanisms concerning these FBC/thermomorphic oxidation reactions will be discussed.