Formation of Glycol Monoacetates in the Oxidation of Olefins Catalyzed by Metal Nitro Complexes: Mono- vs. Bimetallic System

Article abstract of DOI:10.1021/ja00298a024

The oxidation of terminal olefins by bis(acetonitrile)chloronitropalladium(II) (1) in acetic acid leads to a mixture of glycol monoacetate isomers as the main products.Various amounts of ketones and unsaturated acetates are also formed.The rate of formation and the yield of glycol monoacetate decrease with increasing chain length.Cyclic olefins yield no glycol monoacetates.Replacement of acetic acid by stronger or sterically hindered carboxylic acids completely eliminates the formation of glycol monocarboxylates.Introduction of oxygen converts this stoichiometric reaction into a catalytic system.Our studies, including those carried out with complex 1 labeled with 18O in the nitro ligand, suggest that the glycol monoacetates and most of the ketones are the product of oxygen atom transfer from the nitro group, while the unsaturated acetates are the result of a Wacker-type reaction.In the glycol monoacetate, the 18O label is found exclusively in the acetate group.A mechanism which is in agreement with the above observations as well as a comparison of the above reaction with the oxidation of olefins by nitrate ions in the presence of palladium(II) salts is offered.The formation of glycol monoacetates in the monometallic system represented by complex 1 is to be compared with the results obtained in the bimetallic systems consisting of a combination of py(TPP)CoNO2 and either (CH3CN)2PdCl2 or Pd(OAc)2.In the latter systems, ketones or vinyl acetates are found as the predominant products.This fact underlines the difference between the mono- and bimetallic systems and strongly argues against alternative mechanisms involving nitro group transfer from cobalt to palladium before the olefin oxidation takes place.Additional evidence underlining the difference between these two systems is presented.