Osmium-catalyzed dihydroxylation of alkenes by H2O2 in room temperature ionic liquid co-catalyzed by VO(acac)2 or MeReO3

Room temperature ionic liquid bmim]PF₆ was used to immobilize a bimetallic catalytic system for H₂O₂-based dihydroxylation of alkenes. Osmium tetroxide was used as the substrate-selective catalyst with either VO(acac)₂ or MeReO₃ as co-catalyst. The latter serve as an electron transfer mediator (ETM) and activates H₂O₂. For an increased efficiency N-methylmorpholine is required as an additional ETM in most cases. A range of alkenes were dihydroxylated using this robust bimetallic system and it was demonstrated that for some of the alkenes the catalytic system can be recycled and used up to five times.