Oxygenation of Dithranol by complexes of transition elements

Article abstract of DOI:10.1002/ardp.19893220109

The oxygen activation in the dark by complexes of transition metals in the presence of the antipsoriatic compound dithranol (1a) is described.With the system CuCl/O2 an electron transfer oxygenation occurs, which simulates a ¹O2-reaction, without an attack of ¹O2.In the presence of Co-Salen/O2 the mechanism depends on the solvent and substrate, as already shown in the naphthalene-series.In methylenchloride dantrone (2), the radical product bisanthrone 3 and 1,8,10-trihydroxy-9-anthrone (4) are identified.The mechanistic particularity of this reaction in methylenchloride is discussed.