Multipolymer reaction system for selective aerobic alcohol oxidation: simultaneous use of multiple different polymer-supported ligands

A multipolymer reaction system has been developed in which a water-soluble polymer-supported 2,2'-bipyridine group and a similarly immobilized TEMPO derivative are used as ligands for copper to effect the mild and selective aerobic oxidation of primary alcohols in acetonitrile-water solvent. In this reaction system, poly(ethylene glycol) monomethyl ether (molecular weight = 5000 Da) was used as the support for both the 2,2'-bipyridine and TEMPO moieties because of its solubility properties. The use of these functionalized polymers simultaneously in catalytic quantities allows for primary alcohols to be oxidized selectively to the corresponding aldehydes in an environmentally friendly manner. This is the first reported example of using two different polymer-supported ligands together to form an organometallic species capable of catalyzing an organic reaction.