Electrochemical oxidation of phenols

Electrochemical oxidation of chlorinated phenols was studied.     

Ozonolysis of phenols in aqueous solution

In the ozonolysis of phenol in aqueous solution at pH 3, 7 and 10 the following products were quantified: catechol, hydroquinone, 1,4-benzoquinone, cis,cis-muconic acid, H2O2, 2,4-dihydroxybiphenyl and 4,4-dihydroxybiphenyl. At pH 10, material balance (products vs. phenol consumption) is obtained. Singlet dioxygen, O2(1 delta g), and .OH are formed as short-lived intermediates. The precursor of the latter, O3.-, and a phenoxyl radical is suggested to arise from electron transfer from phenol/phenolate to ozone. Addition of .OH to phenol gives rise to dihydroxycyclohexadienyl radicals which add dioxygen and eliminate HO2. thereby forming catechol/hydroquinone. In competition and catalysed by H+ and OH-, the dihydroxycyclohexadienyl radical eliminates water yielding a phenoxyl radical. At pH 10, they readily oxidize catechol and hydroquinone. This reforms phenol (accounting for the low phenol consumption) and yields higher-oxidised products, eventually 1,4-benzoquinone. cis,cis-Muconic acid can be accounted for by the Criegee mechanism, while O2(1 delta g) is released on the way to (some of the) catechol and hydroquinone. Similar reactions proceed with hydroquinone (products: 1,4-benzoquinone, 2-hydroxy-1,4-benzoquinone and H2O2, with high yields of O2(1 delta g) and .OH) and with catechol (products: 2-hydroxy-1,4-benzoquinone, cis,cis-muconic acid, H2O2 with high yields of O2(1 delta g) and .OH). Material balance is not obtained for these two systems. Pentachlorophenolate, pentabromophenolate and 2,4,6-triiodophenolate ions give rise to halide ions, O2(1 delta g) (58%/48%/10%) and .OH (27%/2%/0%). It is suggested that together with O2(1 delta g) the corresponding ortho- and para-quinones plus a halide ion are formed. Further halide ion is released upon the hydrolysis of these and other products. For pentachlorophenolate the material balance with respect to the short-lived intermediates is 85%. With the bromo- and iodophenolates the O2(1 delta g) yields are substantially lowered, most likely due to release of triplet (ground state) dioxygen induced by the heavy atom effect.     

Photoaccelerated oxidation of chlorinated phenols

Exposure to visible light increases the rate of oxidation of chlorinated phenols by hydrogen peroxide in aqueous solution in either the presence or the absence of iron-based catalysts, which may be explained by the aqueous photoreactions of chloroquinone intermediates.     

A modular approach to catalyst hydrophobicity for an asymmetric aldol reaction in a biphasic aqueous environment

Catalyst 5, an ion pair consisting of a hydrophilic cation and a lipophilic anion, fulfils the solubility requirements needed to couple efficiency (enantioselectivities and anti-diastereoselectivities up to > or = 99%) and catalyst recyclability in asymmetric aldol reactions under aqueous biphasic conditions.     

Novel enhanced applications of QSPR models: Temperature dependence of aqueous solubility

A model developed to predict aqueous solubility at different temperatures has been proposed based on quantitative structure–property relationships (QSPR) methodology. The prediction consists of two steps. The first one predicts the value of k parameter in the linear equation , where S_w is the value of solubility and T is the value of temperature. The second step uses Random Forest technique to create high‐efficiency QSPR model. The performance of the model is assessed using cross‐validation and external test set prediction. Predictive capacity of developed model is compared with COSMO‐RS approximation, which has quantum chemical and thermodynamic foundations. The comparison shows slightly better prediction ability for the QSPR model presented in this publication. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

A highly enantioselective abiotic receptor for malate dianion in aqueous solution

The highly enantioselective molecular recognition of the malate dianion by a synthetic receptor in aqueous solution has been studied by potentiometric titrations, mass spectrometry (ESI-MS), diffusion measurements (PGSE NMR) and molecular modeling.     

Silica chloride: An efficient promoter for oxidation of arylboronic acids to phenols

This work reports simple, highly efficient protocol for the oxidation of arylboronic acids. Various arylboronic acids were selectively and completely converted into their corresponding oxidized phenols using H₂O₂ as an oxidant in presence of catalytic amount of silica chloride. The results show that silica chloride is a suitable and efficient promoter for the oxidation of arylboronic acids. Heterogeneous catalyst, mild reaction conditions, easy availability of the reagent, easy work-up, excellent yield of corresponding phenols, short reaction time and broad substrate scope makes this protocol attractive and a practical alternative to the existing methods.     

Shape-selective photocatalytic transformation of phenols in an aqueous medium

A zeolitic material containing Ti chains activated by light allows a shape-selective transformation of organic compounds; the molecules that can enter into the zeolitic cavities are protected from the light-induced processes, while the other are degraded.     

Concerted proton-electron transfer in the oxidation of hydrogen-bonded phenols

Three phenols with pendant, hydrogen-bonded bases (HOAr-B) have been oxidized in MeCN with various one-electron oxidants. The bases are a primary amine (-CPh(2)NH(2)), an imidazole, and a pyridine. The product of chemical and quasi-reversible electrochemical oxidations in each case is the phenoxyl radical in which the phenolic proton has transferred to the base, (*)OAr-BH(+), a proton-coupled electron transfer (PCET) process. The redox potentials for these oxidations are lower than for other phenols, predominately from the driving force for proton movement. One-electron oxidation of the phenols occurs by a concerted proton-electron transfer (CPET) mechanism, based on thermochemical arguments, isotope effects, and DeltaDeltaG(++)/DeltaDeltaG degrees . The data rule out stepwise paths involving initial electron transfer to form the phenol radical cations [(*)(+)HOAr-B] or initial proton transfer to give the zwitterions [(-)OAr-BH(+)]. The rate constant for heterogeneous electron transfer from HOAr-NH(2) to a platinum electrode has been derived from electrochemical measurements. For oxidations of HOAr-NH(2), the dependence of the solution rate constants on driving force, on temperature, and on the nature of the oxidant, and the correspondence between the homogeneous and heterogeneous rate constants, are all consistent with the application of adiabatic Marcus theory. The CPET reorganization energies, lambda = 23-56 kcal mol(-)(1), are large in comparison with those for electron transfer reactions of aromatic compounds. The reactions are not highly non-adiabatic, based on minimum values of H(rp) derived from the temperature dependence of the rate constants. These are among the first detailed analyses of CPET reactions where the proton and electron move to different sites.     

Studies on electron transfer reactions: oxidation of phenol and ring-substituted phenols by heteropoly 11-tungstophosphovanadate(V) in aqueous acidic medium

The kinetics of oxidation of phenol and a few ring-substituted phenols by heteropoly 11-tungstophosphovanadate(V), [PV^VW₁₁O₄₀]⁴⁻ (HPA) have been studied spectrophotometrically in aqueous acidic medium containing perchloric acid and also in acetate buffers of several pH values at 25 °C. EPR and optical studies show that HPA is reduced to the one-electron reduced heteropoly blue (HPB) [PV^IVW₁₁O₄₀]⁵⁻. In acetate buffers, the build up and decay of the intermediate biphenoquinone show the generation of phenoxyl radical (ArO^·) in the rate-determining step. At constant pH, the reaction shows simple second-order kinetics with first-order dependence of rate on both [ArOH] and [HPA]. At constant [ArOH], the rate of the reaction increases with increase in pH. The plot of apparent second-order rate constant, k ₂, versus 1/[H⁺] is linear with finite intercept. This shows that both the undissociated phenol (ArOH) and the phenoxide ion (ArO⁻) are the reactive species. The ArO⁻–HPA reaction is the dominant pathway in acetate buffer and it proceeds through the OH⁻ ion triggered sequential proton transfer followed by electron transfer (PT-ET) mechanism. The rate constant for ArO⁻–HPA reaction, calculated using Marcus theory, agrees fairly well with the experimental value. The reactivity of substituted phenoxide ions correlates with the Hammett σ⁺ constants, and ρ value was found to be −4.8. In acidic medium, ArOH is the reactive species. Retardation of rate for the oxidation of C₆H₅OD in D₂O indicates breaking of the O–H bond in the rate-limiting step. The results of kinetic studies show that the HPA-ArOH reaction proceeds through a concerted proton-coupled electron transfer mechanism in which water acts as proton acceptor (separated-CPET).