Fe-catalyzed one-pot oxidative cleavage of unsaturated fatty acids into aldehydes with hydrogen peroxide and sodium periodate

Article abstract of DOI:10.1002/chem.201301371

A one-pot method has been developed for the oxidative cleavage of internal alkenes into aldehydes by using 0.5mol % of the nonheme iron complex [Fe(OTf)₂(mix-bpbp)] (bpbp=N,N'-bis(2-picolyl)-2,2'-bipyrrolidine) as catalyst and 1.5equivalents of hydrogen peroxide and 1equivalent of sodium periodate as oxidants. A mixture of diastereomers of the chiral bpbp ligand can be used, thereby omitting the need for resolution of its optically active components. The cleavage reaction can be performed in one pot within 20h and under ambient conditions. Addition of water after the epoxidation, acidification and subsequent pH neutralization are crucial to perform the epoxidation, hydrolysis, and subsequent diol cleavage in one pot. High aldehyde yields can be obtained for the cleavage of internal aliphatic double bonds with cis and trans configuration (86-98 %) and unsaturated fatty acids and esters (69-96 %). Good aldehyde yields are obtained in reactions of trisubstituted and terminal alkenes (62-63 %). The products can be easily isolated by a simple extraction step with an organic solvent. The presented protocol involves a lower catalyst loading than conventional methods based on Ru or Os. Also, hydrogen peroxide can be used as the oxidant in this case, which is often disproportionated by second- and third-row metals. By using only mild oxidants, overoxidation of the aldehyde to the carboxylic acid is prevented. Copyright

Full text of DOI:10.1002/chem.201301371

DOI: 10.1002/chem.201301371
Fe-Catalyzed One-Pot Oxidative Cleavage of Unsaturated Fatty Acids into
Aldehydes with Hydrogen Peroxide and Sodium Periodate
Peter Spannring,[a] Vital Yazerski,[a] Pieter C. A. Bruijnincx,*[b]
Bert M. Weckhuysen,[b] and Robertus J. M. KleinGebbink*[a]
Abstract: A one-pot method has been
developed for the oxidative cleavage of
internal alkenes into aldehydes by
using 0.5 mol% of the nonheme iron
tions. Addition of water after the epox-
idation, acidification and subsequent
pH neutralization are crucial to per-
form the epoxidation, hydrolysis, and
subsequent diol cleavage in one pot.
High aldehyde yields can be obtained
for the cleavage of internal aliphatic
double bonds with cis and trans config-
uration (86–98%) and unsaturated
fatty acids and esters (69–96%). Good
aldehyde yields are obtained in reac-
tions of trisubstituted and terminal al-
kenes (62–63%). The products can be
easily isolated by a simple extraction
step with an organic solvent. The pre-
sented protocol involves a lower cata-
lyst loading than conventional methods
based on Ru or Os. Also, hydrogen
peroxide can be used as the oxidant in
this case, which is often disproportio-
nated by second- and third-row metals.
By using only mild oxidants, overoxida-
tion of the aldehyde to the carboxylic
acid is prevented.
complex [FeACHTUNGTRENNUNG(OTf)2ACHTUNGTRENNUNG(mix-bpbp)] (bpbp=
N,N’-bis(2-picolyl)-2,2’-bipyrrolidine)
as catalyst and 1.5 equivalents of hy-
drogen peroxide and 1 equivalent of
sodium periodate as oxidants. A mix-
ture of diastereomers of the chiral
bpbp ligand can be used, thereby omit-
ting the need for resolution of its opti-
cally active components. The cleavage
reaction can be performed in one pot
within 20 h and under ambient condi-
Keywords: aldehydes
· alkenes ·
cleavage reactions · fatty acids · hy-
drogen peroxide · iron
Introduction
pot, and finally oxidation of the aldehyde with oxone to give
the carboxylic acids. The oxone/periodate combination is
very useful for the preparation of fatty-acid-derived carbox-
ylic acids, but does not allow for the isolation of products at
the aldehyde oxidation level.
The oxidative cleavage of unsaturated fatty acids into either
aldehydes or carboxylic acids is a reaction of considerable
practical interest.[1–3] This conversion is nowadays mostly
performed with second- and third-row transition-metal cata-
lysts based on Os,[4–12] Ru,[13–18] or W,[19–25] on the lab scale, or
with ozone in an industrial process.[3,26] More benign meth-
ods for these processes are clearly desired. Recently, we re-
ported on the nonmetal-mediated oxidative cleavage of in-
ternal alkenes and unsaturated fatty acids into carboxylic
acids with a combination of the oxidants oxone and sodium
periodate.[27] This oxidative cleavage involves a cascade of
reactions starting with epoxidation of an alkene with oxone,
acid-catalyzed ring-opening of the epoxide to give a diol in-
termediate (oxone solutions are slightly acidic), periodate-
mediated cleavage of the diol into aldehydes in the same
To allow selective aldehyde formation in such a one-pot
protocol, alternatives for oxone need to be sought for the
epoxidation step, because this oxidant readily overoxidizes
the aldehydes formed into the corresponding carboxylic
acids. Additionally, an alternative oxidant should preferably
produce less waste than oxone. The use of periodate as the
oxidizing agent of diols can be considered acceptable from a
sustainability viewpoint, as this oxidant can be regenerated
electrochemically.[28,29] Any alternative for oxone should be
compatible with sodium periodate to maintain the facile,
one-pot conversion approach. For these reasons, catalytic
systems that involve first-row transition-metal systems and
benign oxidants were considered to replace oxone and to
arrive at a one-pot protocol to form aldehydes out of inter-
nal, electron-rich alkenes (Scheme 1).
[a] P. Spannring, V. Yazerski, Prof. Dr. R. J. M. KleinGebbink
Organic Chemistry and Catalysis
Hydrogen peroxide is widely used in epoxidation reac-
tions and does not overoxidize aldehydes into carboxylic
acids by itself. First-row transition-metal-catalyzed epoxida-
Department of Chemistry, Utrecht University
Universiteitsweg 99, 3584 CG Utrecht (The Netherlands)
Fax : (+31)30-2523615
E-mail: r.j.m.kleingebbink@uu.nl
[b] Dr. P. C. A. Bruijnincx, Prof. Dr. B. M. Weckhuysen
Inorganic Chemistry and Catalysis
Department of Chemistry, Utrecht University
Universiteitsweg 99, 3584 CG Utrecht (The Netherlands)
Fax : (+31) 30-2511027
Scheme 1. Reaction sequence for the formation of aldehydes from
internal alkenes.
E-mail: p.c.a.bruijnincx@uu.nl
15012
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Chem. Eur. J. 2013, 19, 15012 – 15018

FULL PAPER
tions with H2O2 typically involve nonheme Fe and Mn com-
plexes derived from ligands such as tris(2-picolylamine)
(tpa), N,N’-dimethyl-N,N’-bis(2-pyridylmethyl)-1,2-diamino-
ethane) (bpmen),[30] tetraalkylcyclam (Me2EBC=4,11-di-
methyl-1,4,8,11-tetraazabicycloACTHNUTRGNEUNG
[6.6.2]hexadecane),[31] bispi-
dine ligands,[32] or N,N’-bis(2-picolyl)-2,2’-bipyrrolidine
(bpbp).[33–35] Commonly, alkene epoxidation reactions cata-
lyzed by such systems are optimized for cis-cyclooctene or
styrene derivatives. When it comes to the epoxidation of in-
ternal, aliphatic alkenes, examples based on these nonheme
complexes are rather limited: cis-2-heptene can be oxidized
with Fe–Me2EBC complexes under oxidant-limiting condi-
tions, yet the epoxides are only a minor product under the
applied conditions, as cis-diols are primarily formed in pure
CH3CN.[31] Ligands that mimic the active site of a group of
nonheme iron oxygenases characterized by the so-called 2-
His-1-carboxylate triad show similar results.[36,37] Under sub-
strate-limiting conditions, significantly higher epoxide yields
can be obtained: the oxidation of cis-2-heptene by using Fe–
tpa complexes affords 44% of 2,3-epoxyheptane,[38] whereas
Fe–bpmen complexes yield up to 77% of the epoxide.[38]
Nevertheless, high efficiencies (>90% yield) in the epoxida-
tion of acyclic, internal aliphatic cis-alkenes with H2O2 are
still only obtained with methods based on Re cata-
lysts.[12,39–41] In addition, some V-, Mo-, and W-based cata-
lysts give high epoxide yields of the trans-internal aliphatic
alkenes[42] and cis-2-heptene[43] (90%) as substrate when
using H2O2 as the oxidant.[43] Acyclic, internal aliphatic cis-
alkenes were not investigated with these catalysts, however.
Also, Mo catalysts have been shown to give internal aliphat-
ic epoxides in high yield, but with tert-butyl hydroperoxide
as oxidant rather than H2O2.[44]
Scheme 2. Nonheme FeII complexes used in this study (coordinating
triflate ions are not drawn for clarity).
[FeACHTNUTGRNEN(UG OTf)2ACHTUNGTREN(NUGN mix-bpbp)] (5) (Scheme 2). The optimization of
the individual steps in the oxidative cleavage sequence is
discussed as well as the substrate scope. Aldehyde cleavage
products were obtained in excellent yields with a particular
preference for the cleavage of electron-rich internal olefins.
Results and Discussion
The epoxidation activity toward internal alkenes was initial-
ly screened with cis-4-octene as substrate by adding
1.5 equivalents of H2O2 dropwise to a CH3CN/MeCOOH
(1:2 v/v) solution that contained 0.5 mol% [Fe
ACHTUNGTRENNUNG(OTf)2-
AHCTUNGTREG(NNUN bpmen)] (1). After 45 min, near complete conversion
In our search for a suitable system for the epoxidation of
internal aliphatic alkenes, the recently reported catalytic
performance of a Fe–bpbp catalyst stood out, given its low
catalyst loading, high selectivity toward the epoxide, and its
significant activity, also in the absence of additives such as
MeCOOH, which are often required for high activity with
similar catalysts.[34] In addition, Fe–bpbp-catalyzed epoxida-
tion reactions typically result in high mass balances in pure
acetonitrile, with only some minor amounts of cis-diol ob-
served as byproduct.[35] So far, the bpbp system has been ap-
plied in its enantiomerically pure form ((S,S)-bpbp) for
asymmetric epoxidations,[33] which raises the costs involved
because of the need for chiral resolution. A chiral catalyst is
not necessary for oxidative cleavage, and a cheaper, diaster-
eomerically impure form of the Fe–bpbp catalyst can in
principle be used.
(98%) was achieved with an 89% yield of 4,5-epoxyoctane
(Table 1, entry 1). Performing the reaction at 08C improved
the yield of the epoxide to 95% (Table 1, entry 2). The
higher epoxide yields at lower temperature can be attributed
to lower H2O2 disproportionation rates under such condi-
tions, as also observed with epoxidations of cis-cyclooctene
and 1 reported by Mas-Balleste et al.[38] Identical epoxide
yields were obtained whether the oxidant was added with a
syringe pump or manually, which prompted us to manually
add the oxidant in a dropwise fashion in all further experi-
ments. When the loading of 1 was decreased to 0.1 mol%,
the substrate conversion dropped significantly to 39%
(Table 1, entry 4). On the other hand, using 0.1 mol% of
[FeACHTNUTGRNEN(UG OTf)2ACHTUNGTREN{NUGN (R,R)-bpbp}] (2) quantitatively converted the
substrate into 4,5-epoxyoctane within 45 min, even at ambi-
ent temperature (Table 1, entry 5). Further lowering of the
loading of 2 to 0.05 mol% gave 78% of the epoxide after
45 min (Table 1, entry 6), thereby resulting in a turnover
number (TON) of 1560. The use of [FeACHTNUTRGENNG(U OTf)2ACHTUNGTREN{NGUN (S,S)-bpbp}]
(3) gave almost identical results to 2, with full substrate con-
Herein we present our results on the sequential Fe/H2O2-
catalyzed epoxidation, acid-catalyzed hydrolysis, and period-
ate-mediated diol cleavage for the one-pot oxidative cleav-
age of alkenes and unsaturated fatty acids into aldehydes.
On the basis of the promising results previously reported,
we explored in detail the activity and selectivity of the iron
version and 97% epoxide yield (Table 1, entry 7). On the
contrary, meso-complex [FeACHTNUTGRENNUG(OTf)2ACHTUNGTERN{NUGN (R,S)-bpbp}] (4) showed
complexes [Fe
(2), [Fe(OTf)2A{(S,S)-bpbp}] (3), [Fe
and the complex with an isomeric mixture of bpbp ligands,
(OTf)
R
G
E
no activity at all, not even at 08C (Table 1, entry 8). Impor-
tantly, the latter complex seems rather innocent, as no side
products are observed either. Therefore, a mixture of Fe
N
E
CHTUNGTRENNUNG
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R. J. M. Klein Gebbink et al.
Table 2. cis-4-Octene epoxidation with H2O2 in the absence of
complexes [FeACHTUNGTRENNUNG(OTf)2ACHTUTGNREN(NUGN mix-bpbp)] (5) generated from a mix-
MeCOOH.[a]
ture of the different diastereomers of bpbp, that is, by using
a nonresolved mixture of bpbp ligands that contained
around 60% of R,R and S,S and 40% of R,S diastereoisom-
ers, was tested. Such a mixture would represent a much
cheaper source of the bpbp ligand, because the time-con-
suming synthetic step of ligand resolution is omitted. The
use of 0.25 mol% of 5 gave quantitative cis-4-octene conver-
sion to 4,5-epoxyoctane at RT after 45 min (Table 1,
entry 9). Lower loadings of 0.1 and 0.05 mol% gave conver-
sions of 90 and 59% of the substrate, respectively (Table 1,
entries 10 and 11). Since an excess amount of water is re-
quired for the subsequent epoxide hydrolysis step, we also
investigated the stability of the catalysts in the presence of
water. The addition of only 0.25 mL water significantly de-
creased the conversion when using 0.5 mol% 1 from 99 to
35%, and the epoxide yield from 95 to 26% (Table 1,
entry 12). On the other hand, 0.5 mol% of 2 quantitatively
converted the substrate in the presence of up to 1 mL of
water, thus forming 88% of the epoxide (Table 1, entry 13).
Entry
Catalyst
Loading
[mol%]
Conv.
[%][b]
Diol yield
[%][c]
Epoxide yield
[%]
AHCTUNGTRENNUNG
1
2
3
4
5
6
1
2
2
4
5
5
0.5
0.5
0.25
0.5
0.25
0.5
35
100
100
0
42
100
2
6
6
0
4
5
27
92
92
0
37
92
[a] Reaction conditions: catalyst (0.25–0.5 mol%), H2O2 (1.5 equiv)
added dropwise, cis-4-octene (0.18m) in CH3CN (3 mL), 08C, 1.5 h.
[b] Yields and conversions determined by GC. [c] meso-4,5-Octadiol.
as well (Table 2, entry 4), the reaction could again be per-
formed with 0.5 mol% of racemic 5 to give 92% epoxide
and 5% diol at full substrate conversion (Table 2, entry 6).
The latter conditions were taken as optimal for the epoxida-
tion of internal alkenes.
Table 1. cis-4-Octene epoxidation with H2O2 in a CH3CN/MeCOOH
mixture.[a]
The epoxide ring opening can be performed by a variety
of strong acids in aqueous organic solvent, but isomeriza-
tion, dehydration, or halohydrin formation are common side
reactions.[45] With the one-pot sequence in mind, the ring
opening of 4,5-epoxyoctane was optimized in CH3CN with
some added water. Reactions of the epoxide with 1 equiva-
lent of tartaric acid with respect to the substrate in CH3CN/
H2O (3:1, v/v) gave only 5% substrate conversion after
30 min at ambient temperature (Table 3, entry 1). Increasing
the amount of acid (6 equiv) and extending the reaction
time to 90 min led to 96% substrate conversion, but with
only 39% diol being formed (Table 3, entry 2). Complete
conversion of the epoxide was observed with 1 equivalent of
p-toluene sulfonic acid (p-TSA; Table 3, entry 3). Using this
acid also gave only 45% of the diol, whereas HCl converted
only 50% of the epoxide and gave considerable amounts of
byproducts (Table 3, entry 4). Rewardingly, the use of
H2SO4 (1 equiv of H+) in CH3CN/H2O (3:1 v/v) gave rac-
4,5-octanediol in 96% isolated yield after 30 min, with full
conversion and no detectable byproducts (Table 3, entry 6).
Entry
Catalyst
Loading
[mol%]
T
[8C]
t
Conv.
[%][b]
Yield
[%][b]
G
ACHTUNGTNER[NUNG min]
1
2
1
1
1
1
2
2
3
4
5
5
5
1
2
0.5
0.5
0.5
0.1
0.1
0.05
0.1
0.5
0.25
0.1
0.05
0.5
0.5
25
0
0
45
45
90
90
45
45
45
45
45
45
45
90
90
98
99
100
39
100
78
100
0
100
90
59
35
100
89
95
95
33
99
78
97
0
99
89
56
26
88
3[c]
4
0
5
6
7
8
25
25
25
0
25
25
25
0
9
10
11
12[d]
13[e]
0
[a] Reaction conditions: catalyst (0.05–0.5 mol%), cis-4-octene (0.18m) in
CH3CN/MeCOOH (1:2 v/v, 3 mL), H2O2 (1.5 equiv) added dropwise.
[b] Yields and conversions (Conv.) determined by GC. [c] H2O2 added
over 1 h. [d] H2O added: 0.25 mL. [e] H2O added: 1 mL.
Table 3. Acid-catalyzed hydrolysis of 4,5-epoxyoctane into rac-4,5-octa-
nediol.[a]
Subsequently, the possibility to omit acetic acid from the
reaction mixture was explored, as this would facilitate prod-
uct separation. Reactions were performed at low tempera-
ture to limit oxidant disproportionation.[35] Using 0.5 mol%
of 1 in CH3CN as the sole solvent component gave only
35% conversion of the substrate after 90 min at 08C, with
2% of meso-4,5-octanediol (cis-dihydroxylation product)
and 27% of the epoxide as products (Table 2, entry 1). On
the other hand, 0.5 mol% of either 2 or 3 gave full substrate
conversion, thereby yielding 92% epoxide and 6% diol
(Table 2, entry 2 for 2). Identical results are obtained when
the catalyst loading was decreased to 0.25 mol% (Table 2,
entry 3). Because complex 4 proved inactive in this protocol
Entry
Acid
H+ [equiv]
t [min]
Conv. [%][b]
Yield [%][b]
1
2
3
4
5
6
tartaric
tartaric
p-TSA
HCl
H2SO4
H2SO4
1
6
1
1
0.1
1
30
90
30
30
30
30
5
96
100
50
28
100
0
39[c]
45[c]
25[c]
23
96[d]
[a] Reaction conditions: 4,5-epoxyoctane (0.135m) in CH3CN/H2O (3:1
v/v; 4 mL), RT. [b] Determined by GC. [c] By-products observed. [d] Iso-
lated yield.
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Oxidative Cleavage
FULL PAPER
Optimization of the final step in the sequence, that is, pe-
riodate-mediated oxidative cleavage of rac-4,5-octanediol
into butanal, was carried out in CH3CN/H2O 3:1 (v/v), the
same solvent system as was used for the epoxidation and hy-
drolysis reactions. Complete conversion was obtained with
3 equivalents of HIO4 within 2 h, but byproducts were
formed in addition to the 75% of yield of butanal (Table 4,
The substrate scope of this one-pot procedure was subse-
quently explored with various aliphatic alkenes using cata-
lyst 5. Reactions with trans-4-octene gave 90% conversion
but only 40% aldehyde (Table 5, entry 3). As remaining
traces of both epoxide and meso-4,5-diol suggested that the
initial steps in the sequence were incomplete, reaction times
were extended for the hydrolysis from 1 to 16 h, and for the
diol oxidation from 0.5 to 1.5 h (method B). This did not
result in any major improvement, however, as the diol cleav-
age step was still found to be incomplete (95% substrate
conversion with 41% aldehydes; Table 5, entry 4). On the
basis of our observations in the previously reported metal-
free one-pot protocol[27] that transformation of diols into al-
dehydes works especially well once the reaction mixture is
diluted with water to an CH3CN/H2O ratio of 1:3 (v/v), we
applied the same strategy here (method C). Notably, 96%
of trans-4-octene was converted into 86% of butanal with
method C and only 9% of diol remained (Table 5, entry 5).
Method C also allowed for 70% conversion of 2-methyl-2-
hexene to yield 63% of butanal (Table 5, entry 6). The ter-
minal alkene 1-decene was also converted by 70%, thus
generating 63% of nonanal (Table 5, entry 7). Moreover,
93% of adipaldehyde was isolated from cyclohexene at
complete substrate conversion with this method. The isola-
tion of the dialdehyde was straightforward and could be
conducted by simple extraction of the reaction mixture with
ether and subsequent evaporation. Likewise, the reaction of
the terpene a-pinene yielded the ketoaldehyde by oxidative
cleavage in 60% isolated yield (Table 5, entry 9). On the
other hand, reactions with trans-b-methyl styrene gave only
Table 4. Oxidation of rac-4,5-octanediol into butanal.[a]
Entry Oxidant ACHTUNGTRENNUNG
[Equiv] CH3CN/H2O (v/v) Conv. [%][b] Yield [%][c]
1
2
3
4
HIO4
3
3:1
3:1
3:1
1:0
100
100
100
0
75[d]
99
99
0
NaIO4
NaIO4
NaIO4
3
1
1
[a] Reaction conditions: rac-4,5-octanediol (0.135m) in CH3CN/H2O (3:1
v/v; 4 mL), RT, 30 min, oxidant. [b] Determined by GC. [c] Maximum
amount of butanal set to 100%. [d] Side products observed, 2 h.
entry 1). Byproduct formation could be attributed to the use
of periodic acid rather than a periodate salt. Indeed, the
conversion into butanal was quantitative after 30 min with 3
or even 1 equivalent of NaIO4 (Table 4, entries 2 and 3). No-
tably, oxidation of the diol did not occur in the absence of
H2O (Table 4, entry 4).
Having optimized the individual steps of alkene epoxida-
tion, epoxide ring opening, and diol oxidation into alde-
hydes with our model substrate cis-4-octene, we in-
tended to combine the individual protocols for a
Table 5. One-pot oxidative cleavage of aliphatic alkenes.[a]
procedure to convert cis-4-octene into butanal in
one pot. To maximize the yield, the reaction time
was increased to 2.5 h for the epoxidation reaction
and to 1 h for the epoxide hydrolysis. The proce-
dure was as follows (method A): Epoxidation with
0.5 mol% of catalyst 2 or 5 at 08C with 1.5 equiva-
lents of H2O2 in CH3CN for 2.5 h, subsequent hy-
drolysis by addition of 0.5 equivalents of H2SO4 in
H2O to give a 0.135m solution in CH3CN/H2O (3:1
v/v), which was stirred for 1 h at ambient tempera-
ture. Finally, 1 equivalent of NaHCO3 (neutralizing
the pH) and 1 equivalent of NaIO4 were added, and
the mixture was stirred for an additional 0.5 h. To
our delight, the presence of all reagents did not
cause side reactions in the protocol: cis-4-octene
was completely converted after 4 h with catalyst 2,
which yielded 94% of butanal (Table 5, entry 1),
whereas the use of 5 even resulted in an aldehyde
yield of 98% at full substrate conversion (Table 5,
entry 2). The presence of the catalyst in the mixture
did not cause side reactions upon the introduction
of either the acid or the base, nor did overoxidation
of the aldehyde take place when NaIO4 was intro-
duced.
Entry
Substrate
Catalyst
t
CH3CN/H2O Method Conv. Yield
(v/v)
[%][b] [%][c]
[h]
ACHTUNGTRENNUNG
1
2
2
5
4
4
3:1
3:1
A
A
100
100
94
98
3
4
5
5
5
5
4
20
20
3:1
3:1
3:1!3:9
A
B
C
90
95
96
40
41
86
6
7
5
5
20
20
3:1!3:9
3:1!3:9
C
C
73
70
62
63
8
5
20
3:1!3:9
C
100
93[d]
9
5
5
20
20
3:1!3:9
C
B
100
60
60[d]
44
10
3:1
[a] Reaction conditions: method A: i) alkene (0.18m) in CH3CN (3 mL), 5 ([Fe
AHCTUNGTRENNUNG
ACHTUNGTRENNUNG(OTf)2-
2.5 h; ii) alkene (0.135m) in CH3CN/H2O (3:1 v/v, 4 mL), RT, 1 h; iii) NaHCO3
(1 equiv), NaIO4 (1 equiv), 0.5 h. Method B: ii) 16 h; iii) 1.5 h. Method C: ii) 16 h;
iii) addition of H2O (8 mL), CH3CN/H2O (0.07m, 3:9 v/v), 1.5 h. [b] Determined by
GC. [c] Maximum aldehyde yield set to 100 %. [d] Isolated yield.
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R. J. M. Klein Gebbink et al.
Table 6. Oxidative cleavage of unsaturated fatty acids and esters.[a]
60% conversion and yielded 44% benzaldehyde (Table 5,
entry 10). Styrenes and stilbenes generally showed poor
yields, and increasing the catalyst loading was not found to
be beneficial (not shown).
Next we turned our attention to the application of the
one-pot method in the oxidative cleavage of unsaturated
fatty acids and esters. In the oxidative cleavage of nonsym-
metric substrates such as the unsaturated fatty acids, both a
linear aldehyde as well as an w-1 aldocarboxylic acid are
formed. For analytical reasons, the conversion and selectivi-
ty of the fatty acid cleavage reactions were determined by
monitoring the amounts of linear aldehyde being produced,
with the yield of the corresponding w-1 aldocarboxylic acid
assumed to be equal. The difunctionalized molecules are
more water soluble at high temperatures than the mono-
functionalized ones and can therefore be separated in hot
water. We initially applied method A for the oxidation of
the fatty acid ester methyl oleate, as cis-4-octene is readily
converted under these conditions into the aldehyde in high
yields. Methyl oleate was converted in 93% after 4 h with
this method, and 78% of nonanal was obtained (Table 6,
entry 1). As product analysis by 1H NMR spectroscopic
measurements showed that diols were still present at the
end of the reaction, the reaction time was extended (meth-
od B) to give excellent yields of nonanal (92%) after 20 h at
94% substrate conversion (Table 6, entry 2). In a similar
fashion, we conducted the reaction with methyl oleate on a
preparative scale, that is, using a tenfold larger substrate
amount, and obtained a 75% isolated yield of the mono-
and difunctionalized product in an equal molar ratio. The
reaction of the fatty acid oleic acid in pure CH3CN resulted
in 95% substrate conversion and 90% yield of nonanal
(Table 6, entry 3). To illustrate the influence of MeCOOH
in the conversion of fatty acid substrates, some reactions
were performed in a mixture of MeCOOH and CH3CN (1:2
v/v). In the case of methyl oleate, full substrate conversion
and 96% yield of nonanal was achieved, which showed a
small beneficial effect of the use of acetic acid (Table 6,
entry 4). On the other hand, MeCOOH is required for the
efficient conversion of elaidic acid (trans isomer of oleic
acid), erucic acid (C11 fatty acid), and the methyl ester of
erucic acid, as reactions in pure CH3CN resulted in medio-
cre amounts of nonanal. The higher solubility of these sub-
strates in the MeCOOH/CH3CN medium is considered to
be a crucial factor. The somewhat sluggish reactivity of
these three substrates required that the epoxidation, hydrol-
ysis, and diol cleavage were performed for 24 h each. In this
way, elaidic acid was completely converted to form 69% of
nonanal (Table 6, entry 5). Likewise, erucic acid and its
methyl ester gave yields of 73 and 70% of nonanal, respec-
tively, at full substrate conversion (Table 6, entries 6 and 7).
The developed protocol therefore proved to be very effi-
cient for the one-pot oxidative cleavage of various fatty
acids and their esters.
Entry
n
R
MeCOOH Method Conv. Yield a Yield b
A
[%][b]
[%][b]
%][b]
1
2
3
4
6
6
6
6
6
10
Me
Me
H
Me 50
H
H
0
0
0
A
B
B
B
93
94
95
100
100
100
100
78
92
90
96
69
73
70
73
86
n.d.[e]
89
5[c]
6
50
50
B[d]
B[d]
B[d]
n.d.[e]
n.d.[e]
n.d.[e]
7
10 Me 50
[a] Reaction conditions: method A: i) alkene (0.18m) in organic solvent
(CH3CN, 3 mL or CH3CN/MeCOOH 2:1, v/v, 3 mL), 5 ([Fe(OTf)2A(mix-
A
CHTUNGTRENNUNG
bpbp)], 0.5 mol%), H2O2 (1.5 equiv) in CH3CN (1.08m) added dropwise,
08C, 2.5 h; ii) H2SO4 (0.5 equiv, 0.18m in H2O, 1 mL), 1 h, RT; iii) NaH-
CO3 (1 equiv), NaIO4 (1 equiv), 0.5 h. Method B: ii) 16 h; iii) 1.5 h.
[b] Determined by GC. [c] Elaidic acid used, trans double bond. [d] Reac-
tion steps i), ii), and iii) all performed for 24 h. [e] Not determined.
Conclusion
A straightforward one-pot protocol for the transformation
of internal alkenes into aldehydes has been developed. The
protocol relies on the use of iron as the transition metal and
a combination of the benign oxidants H2O2 (1.5 equiv) and
NaIO4 (1 equiv) in CH3CN as the sole solvent. The reaction
sequence involves the initial epoxidation of the alkene with
hydrogen peroxide, mediated by a mixture of iron com-
plexes obtained from an unresolved mixture of isomers of
the bpbp ligand. This [FeACTHNURTGENN(UG OTf)2ACHTUNGTERN(NUGN mix-bpbp)] catalyst is a
cheap and synthetically more straightforward alternative to
optically pure Fe–bpbp complexes, which need chiral resolu-
tion of the ligand. Subsequently, epoxide ring opening with
diluted sulfuric acid and finally cleavage of the resulting diol
into aldehydes by stoichiometric amounts of NaIO4 occur in
the same pot. High yields of the cleavage products can be
obtained with catalyst loadings as low as 0.5% and without
the need for acetic acid. The reaction sequence is not ham-
pered by the epoxidation catalyst that remains in the reac-
tion mixture, and no overoxidation of the aldehydes towards
carboxylic acids occurs in this system despite the presence
of NaIO4 and the catalyst. In this way, the subsequent inter-
mediates do not need to be isolated and the reaction can
occur in pot. The use of a limited number of reactants, the
omission of MeCOOH, and the fact that acid and base neu-
tralize each other enables the aldehydes to be obtained by
direct extraction in organic solvent from the reaction mix-
ture without the need for column chromatography. Cyclic,
internal, terminal, and trisubstituted aliphatic alkenes as
well as terpenes can all be cleaved in high yields within
4–20 h.
Furthermore, we have shown that a variety of unsaturated
fatty acids and esters can be cleaved into nonanal and an w-
1 aldocarboxylic acid. The former is an industrially interest-
ing product, nowadays typically produced by hydroformyla-
15016
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Chem. Eur. J. 2013, 19, 15012 – 15018

Oxidative Cleavage
FULL PAPER
with diethyl ether (3ꢁ40 mL), a combined yield of 75% of the mono-
and difunctionalized aldehydes was obtained (1.77 g, 5.4 mmol).
tion of 1-octene, for which this system can be regarded as an
alternate process. However, the latter product could serve
as a valuable monomer of a variety of biobased polymers.
Our protocol is an alternative to similar processes that in-
volve Ru-, Os-, and W-mediated systems that use additives
and less benign oxidants for the oxidative cleavage of unsa-
turated fatty acids into aldehydes. Furthermore, this system
might serve as a substitute for the ozonolysis of oleic acid
carried out on a large scale in industry.
Method C: Alkene substrate (0.72 mmol), pentadecane (0.18 mmol; inter-
nal standard), and [FeACHTUGNETRN(NUNG OTf)2ACHUTGTNERNNUG(mix-bpbp)] (3.6 mmol, [FeACHTUNGETR(NGNUN OTf)2ACHTUNGTRENNUNG{(R,R)-
bpbp}] or [Fe(OTf)2A{(S,S)-bpbp}] can also be used) were dissolved in
A
CHTUNGTRENNUNG
CH3CN (3 mL) at 08C. Subsequently, H2O2 (1.08 mmol) in CH3CN
(0.75 mL) was added dropwise to the mixture. After 2.5 h, H2SO4 in H2O
(0.72 mmol, 1 mL) was added, and it was reacted at RT for 16 h. Next
NaHCO3 (0.72 mmol), NaIO4 (0.72 mmol), and H2O (8 mL) were added
consecutively, and the solution was stirred for an additional 1.5 h. The re-
action mixture was filtered and extracted three times with diethyl ether
(15 mL). The combined organic fractions were dried over MgSO4, fil-
tered, and subjected to GC analysis. Product yields were compared with
authentic samples of aldehydes. Reactions with a-pinene and cyclohex-
ene were carried out on a larger scale (2.16 mmol), and the isolated yield
was determined by extraction with diethyl ether (4ꢁ40 mL) in a similar
procedure by omitting the internal standard. The isolated products were
characterized with 1H and 13C NMR spectroscopy. The substrate conver-
sion with the latter alkenes was determined in a separate experiment by
GC analysis and by using the same workup procedure with the internal
standard present from the start of the reaction.
Experimental Section
General: Sodium periodate (99%), (1R)-(+)-a-pinene (98%), cyclohex-
ene (99%), trans-b-methyl styrene (97 %), hydrogen peroxide (35 wt%
in H2O), and a-methyl styrene (99%) were purchased from Acros Or-
ganics. trans-4-Octene (90%), 1-decene (94%), styrene (99%, stabilized
with 10–15 ppm p-tert-butylcatechol), cis-stilbene (96%), and methyl
oleate (99%) were purchased from Aldrich. Oleic acid (99%) was ob-
tained from Fluka. cis-4-Octene (97%) was purchased from Alfa Aesar.
2-Methyl-2-hexene (98%), elaidic acid (98%), and erucic acid methyl
ester (90%) were purchased from ABCR. All chemicals were used as re-
ceived. The reactions were conducted under ambient conditions unless
stated otherwise by using demineralized water, pro analysis CH3CN, and
technical-grade ether or CH2Cl2. Gas chromatography was carried out
using a PerkinElmer Clarus 500 Gas Chromatograph with a Nukol TM
fused-silica 15 mꢁ0.53 mmꢁ0.5 mm column supplied by Supelco and a
Perkin–Elmer Autosystem XL. Compounds 1–3 were synthesized accord-
ing to literature procedures.[30,35] Compound 4 was prepared by using a
similar procedure to that for the synthesis of 2 and 3, starting from the
commercially available (R,S)-bpbp ligand. The synthesis and characteri-
zation of compound 5 will be published elsewhere.
Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful to Utrecht University for financial support
through their Focus & Massa program.
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