The ability to achieve the α-oxygenation of ethers selectively and efficiently is important because the resulting product is an ester. Esters serve a variety of different roles and are used in everything from plastics to pharmaceutics. This reaction may provide a new pathway to create these products, which will in turn make the production of these products, and more, cheaper and more abundant. Typical catalysts for this reaction contain complex ligands which are susceptible to redox degradation. The molybdate catalyst, ({MoO(O2)2}2(μ-O)]2-), initially reported for the oxidation of organic sulfides, is a redox stable polyoxometalate and is simple to prepare. Along with these advantages, it is shown here to have promise in the synthesis of complex biologically active molecules that are made through the α-oxygenation of ethers. Initial results show strong selectivity towards a single oxygenated ester at extremely low catalyst loadings ranging from 0.1% to 5%. Further work shows that it is active for a range of different substrates.

Utilizing a simple molybdate catalyst, [{MoO(O2)2}2(μ-O)]2-], for the α-oxygenation of ethers

255th National Meeting (2018)

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