Electrochemical model of alkane oxidation by cytochrome P-450

Catalytic oxidation of alkanes to alcohols and ketones was shown to take place in an electrochemical cell with iron porphyrin deposited on a graphite cathode. The oxidation mechanism was assumed to be similar to that of cytochrome P-450 action.

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Selective ortho hydroxylation of nitrobenzene with molecular oxygen catalyzed by the H5PV2Mo10O40 polyoxometalate

Nitrobenzene was regioselectively oxidized to 2-nitrophenol with oxygen in a reaction catalyzed by the H5PV2Mo10O40 polyoxometalate. The reaction was first order in oxygen and catalyst. 15N NMR showed the interaction between nitrobenzene and the polyoxometalate. Use of labeled 18O2, H218O, a competitive kinetic isotope experiment, and use of phenyl-tert-butylnitrone as a spin-trap and identification by EPR provided evidence for formation of a radical intermediate involving a selective intramolecular interaction at the ortho position due to formation of a H5PV2Mo10O40-nitrobenzene complex.     

Analogy between unconventional superconductivity and unconventional states of liquid crystals

An analogy is stressed between the order-parameter symmetries of the two-dimensional d-pairing wave superconductors and of liquid-crystal mesophases formed from achiral bent-shaped molecules. It leads to a definition of a class of liquid-crystal states which are the analogs of the unconventional superconducting states, and are characterized by a loss of discrete symmetry operations of the parent state.     

The high-valent iron-oxo species of polyoxometalate, if it can be made, will be a highly potent catalyst for C-H hydroxylation and double-bond epoxidation

This study uses density functional theory (DFT) calculations to explore the reactivity of the putative high-valent iron-oxo reagent of the iron-substituted polyoxometalate (POM-FeO4-), derived from the Keggin species, PW12O40(3-). It is shown that POM-FeO4- is in principle capable of C-H hydroxylation and C=C epoxidation and that it should be a powerful oxidant, even more so than the Compound I species of cytochrome P450. The calculations indicate that in a solvent, the barriers, and especially those for epoxidation, become sufficiently small that one may expect an extremely fast reaction. An experimental investigation (by R.N. and A.M.K.) shows, however, that the formation of POM-FeO4- using the oxygen donor, F5PhI-O, leads to a persistent adduct, POM-FeO-I-PhF5(4-), which does not decompose to POM-FeO4- + F5Ph-I at the working temperature and exhibits sluggish reactivity, in accord with previous experimental results (Hill, C. L.; Brown, R. B., Jr. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1986, 108, 536 and Mansuy, D.; Bartoli, J.-F.; Battioni, P.; Lyon, D. K.; Finke, R. G. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1991, 113, 7222). Subsequent calculations indeed reveal that the gas-phase binding energy of F5PhI to POM-FeO4- is high (ca. 20 kcal/mol) compared to the corresponding binding energy of propene (ca. 2-3 kcal/mol). As such, the POM-FeO-I-PhF5(4-) complex is expected to be persistent toward the displacement of F5PhI by a substrate like propene, leading thereby to sluggish oxidative reactivity. According to theory, overcoming this technical difficulty may turn out to be very rewarding. The question is, can POM-FeO4- be made?     

Oxidation of alkylarenes by nitrate catalyzed by polyoxophosphomolybdates: synthetic applications and mechanistic insights

Alkylarenes were catalytically and selectively oxidized to the corresponding benzylic acetates and carbonyl products by nitrate salts in acetic acid in the presence of Keggin type molybdenum-based heteropolyacids, H(3+)(x)()PV(x)()Mo(12)(-)(x)()O(40) (x = 0-2). H(5)PV(2)Mo(10)O(40) was especially effective. For methylarenes there was no over-oxidation to the carboxylic acid contrary to what was observed for nitric acid as oxidant. The conversion to the aldehyde/ketone could be increased by the addition of water to the reaction mixture. As evidenced by IR and (15)N NMR spectroscopy, initially the nitrate salt reacted with H(5)PV(2)Mo(10)O(40) to yield a N(V)O(2)(+)[H(4)PV(2)Mo(10)O(40)] intermediate. In an electron-transfer reaction, the proposed N(V)O(2)(+)[H(4)PV(2)Mo(10)O(40)] complex reacts with the alkylarene substrate to yield a radical-cation-based donor-acceptor intermediate, N(IV)O(2)[H(4)PV(2)Mo(10)O(40)]-ArCH(2)R(+)(*). Concurrent proton transfer yields an alkylarene radical, ArCHR(*), and NO(2). Alternatively, it is possible that the N(V)O(2)(+)[H(4)PV(2)Mo(10)O(40)] complex abstracts a hydrogen atom from alkylarene substrate to directly yield ArCHR(*) and NO(2). The electron transfer-proton transfer and hydrogen abstraction scenarios are supported by the correlation of the reaction rate with the ionization potential and the bond dissociation energy at the benzylic positions of the alkylarene, respectively, the high kinetic isotope effect determined for substrates deuterated at the benzylic position, and the reaction order in the catalyst. Product selectivity in the oxidation of phenylcyclopropane tends to support the electron transfer-proton transfer pathway. The ArCHR(*) and NO(2) radical species undergo heterocoupling to yield a benzylic nitrite, which undergoes hydrolysis or acetolysis and subsequent reactions to yield benzylic acetates and corresponding aldehydes or ketones as final products.