Kinetic and Product Study of the S-oxidation vs HAT Chemoselectivity in Reactions Promoted by Nonheme Iron(IV)-oxo Complex/NHPI Mediator System

The chemoselectivity between S-oxidation and hydrogen atom transfer (HAT) from C−H bonds has been investigated in the oxidations of a series of aryl sulfides, alkyl aromatic compounds and benzylic alcohols promoted by the iron(IV)-oxo complex (N4Py)Fe^IV(O)]²⁺ (N4Py: N,N-bis(2-pyridylmethyl)-N-bis(2-pyridyl)-methylamine) either alone or in the presence of the N-hydroxyphthalimide (NHPI) mediator via kinetic and product studies. Kinetic analyses indicate a generally higher reactivity of (N4Py)Fe^IV(O)]²⁺ for S-oxidation process while HAT is favored in the reactions promoted by phthalimide-N-oxyl radical (PINO) deriving from NHPI oxidation. Product analysis in intermolecular competitive oxidations confirms the kinetic results with sulfoxides obtained as major products in the oxidation promoted by (N4Py)Fe^IV(O)]²⁺. Conversely, when NHPI is employed as a mediator, significant differences in terms of chemoselectivity are observed, and HAT-derived products are obtained in higher yields which translate into an inversion of selectivity in the case of the substrates containing activated C−H bonds like diphenylmethane, triphenylmethane and benzylic alcohols. A similar change of chemoselectivity is also observed in the oxidation of aromatic substrates containing both a sulfur atom and α to OH benzylic C−H bonds, with the sulfoxide product more abundant in the absence of NHPI and carbonyl products prevailing with the (N4Py)Fe^IV(O)]²⁺/NHPI system.