Conventional reagents used in alcohol oxidation reactions pose severe economic and environmental consequences. Nevertheless, such reagents are heavily relied upon due to the fundamental role of alcohol oxidations in the chemical processes used by various industries, such as the pharmaceutical and biofuel industries. With sustainability in mind, this project intends to evaluate alternative methods of alcohol oxidation using novel dioxomolybdenum catalysts. Due to a lack of literature surrounding molybdenum catalyzed alcohol oxidations, the role of each component will be thoroughly investigated through the evaluation of a diverse range of alcohols including primary and secondary benzylic as well as aliphatic alcohols in oxidation reactions. A comprehensive understanding of ligand effects in the context of these oxidations will also be developed. Under our optimized conditions, the oxidations can be achieved over a 24-hour reaction time at 120°C using 2 mol% molybdenum catalyst in dimethyl sulfoxide, which acts as both the solvent and the oxidizing agent. As a result, the conversions and yields in these catalytic alcohol oxidation reactions vary from 20% to &gt;99% based on the alcohol substrate used, and there is an evident efficiency linked with the use of the novel catalysts. The reaction is chemoselective and yields aldehyde as the sole oxidation product from primary alcohol substrates. A competing dehydration pathway has been observed with certain electron-rich benzylic alcohols, resulting in the formation of corresponding olefins. With further optimization, these catalysts can be assessed for large-scale industry applications with the goal of pushing industrial processes to become more environmentally friendly.

Ligand effects in molybdenum catalyzed oxidation of benzylic alcohols

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