Grill et al.
SCHEME 1. Oxidation of Organic Substrates with
Catalytic Nickel(II) Salts and Aqueous Bleach
various nickel(II) salts and excess bleach under ambient
conditions and appears to be quite general, giving predictable
products with high yields (70-95%) and high purities (90-
100%) in most cases (Scheme 1). With a few exceptions, these
oxidations can be performed without the use of an organic
solvent. For the oxidation of water-insoluble organics, a small
amount of added dichloromethane (or diethyl ether in certain
cases) greatly facilitates the reaction.
Results and Discussion
In order to obtain relevant data for activity and selectivity
comparisons, we decided to perform each oxidation reaction
under our standard conditionsswhich called for a small amount
of dichloromethane to dissolve the organicsand then perform
a separate set of experiments excluding all organic solvent from
the reaction. The results could then be compared to determine
the impact, if any, of the organic solvent. Since the active form
of the nickel oxide hydroxide catalyst is insoluble under our
reaction conditions,5 it is reasonable to assume that the oxidation
is occurring on the catalyst surface. Thus, we surmised that
liquid alcohols could be oxidized without the use of an organic
solvent, whereas water-insoluble solid alcohols would require
dissolution in an organic solvent. In most cases, this prediction
holds true. An organic substrate that is either a liquid or water-
soluble can be oxidized without the use of organic solvents.
This is clearly advantageous because it reduces the amount of
waste generated and it eliminates the need for a potentially toxic
organic solvent. This reaction appears to be quite general,
oxidizing both aliphatic and aromatic alcohols quite cleanly.
Additionally, aldehydes are readily oxidized to carboxylic acids
with this catalytic system.
SCHEME 2. Oxidation of 3-Butenoic Acid to Fumaric Acid
and Proposed Mechanism
SCHEME 3. Oxidation of Acrylic Acid
Oxidation of Primary Alcohols. The oxidation of primary
alcohols proceeds smoothly under the standard reaction condi-
tions to give the corresponding carboxylic acids following acidic
workup. Isolated yields for these reactions were generally good
ranging from 68 to 89%, and initial purities were high (80-
98% by gas chromatography, GC), indicating that the reaction
generates few byproducts (Table 1). Since these alcohols are
all liquids and/or water soluble, similar results were expected
when the organic solvent was excluded from the reaction.
Indeed, the different reaction conditions resulted in very similar
isolated yields and GC purities. These five tested substrates are
readily oxidized to the carboxylic acids without the need for
organic solvent.
Oxidation of Secondary Alcohols. Secondary alcohols are
oxidized to ketones in high yields and purities in most cases
(Table 2). Again, in the case of liquid alcohols or water-soluble
alcohols, no organic solvent is required, with one exception.
The oxidation of racemic sec-phenethyl alcohol reached only
33% conversion after the 4 h reaction time in the absence of
organic solvent (Table 2, entry 4). The balance of the material
was determined to be starting material by GC. Curiously,
running this reaction for longer periods of time did not improve
the yield or the conversion. With organic solvent, the GC purity
is high, but a low isolated yield of the corresponding ketone is
obtained. Also, the substrate in Table 2 entry 8 (a mixture of
diastereomers) did not react under either of the reaction
conditions, suggesting that excessive steric bulk severely
impedes oxidation. Finally, the cyclic vicinal diol 1,2-dihy-
droxycyclohexane (Table 2, entry 9, a mixture of diastereomers)
undergoes carbon-carbon bond cleavage to afford the R,ω-
dicarboxylic acid in high yield (90% isolated).
the stoichiometric use of Collins reagent,6 Jones’ reagent,7
pyridinium chlorochromate (PCC),8 or potassium permangan-
ate.9 These routes are generally undesirable due to the large
amounts of toxic-metal-containing waste that they produce in
addition to the fact that the reagents are always used in excess
to ensure reaction completion. They do, however, tend to be
selective and very reliable. Many industrial organic oxidations
can be accomplished with oxygen or hydrogen peroxide using
heterogeneous catalysts, but the reaction conditions can often
lead to over-oxidation of the product to give carbon dioxide
and water.10 Nevertheless, heterogeneous systems are industrially
useful for synthesizing commodity chemicals from abundant
feedstocks because modest selectivity is often compensated by
the low cost of the oxidant, usually oxygen gas. However, with
complex and expensive alcohols (fine chemical synthesis), a
more selective route is desirable.
Herein we report the facile oxidation of primary alcohols,
secondary alcohols, aldehydes, and R,â-unsaturated acids to give
carboxylic acids, ketones, carboxylic acids, and epoxy acids,
respectively, using rather inexpensive and commonly available
reagents. The oxidation proceeds rapidly in the presence of
(8) Corey, E. J.; Suggs, J. W. Tetrahedron Lett. 1975, 16, 2647-2650.
(9) (a) Fatiadi, A. J. Synthesis 1987, 2, 85-127. (b) Shaabani, A.;
Tavasoli-Rad, F. Synth. Commun. 2005, 35, 571-580.
(10) Bartholomew, C. H.; Farrauto, R. J. Fundamentals of Industrial
Catalytic Processes; Wiley: Hoboken, NJ, 2006; pp 579-581.
9292 J. Org. Chem., Vol. 71, No. 25, 2006