Bulky iron complexes are described that catalyze the site-selective oxidation of alkyl C-H bonds with hydrogen peroxide under mild conditions. Steric bulk at the iron center is introduced by appending trialkylsilyl groups at the meta-position of the pyridines in tetradentate aminopyridine ligands, and this effect translates into high product yields, an enhanced preferential oxidation of secondary over tertiary C-H bonds, and the ability to perform site-selective oxidation of methylenic sites in terpenoid and steroidal substrates. Unprecedented site selective oxidation at C6 and C12 methylenic sites in steroidal substrates is shown to be governed by the chirality of the catalysts.

Selective oxidation of alkyl C-H groups constitutes one of the highest challenges in organic synthesis. In this work, we show that mononuclear iron coordination complexes Λ-[Fe(CF(3)SO(3))(2)((S,S,R)-MCPP)] (Λ-1P), Δ-[Fe(CF(3)SO(3))(2)((R,R,R)-MCPP)] (Δ-1P), Λ-[Fe(CF(3)SO(3))(2)((S,S,R)-BPBPP)] (Λ-2P), and Δ-[Fe(CF(3)SO(3))(2)((R,R,R)-BPBPP)] (Δ-2P) catalyze the fast, efficient, and selective oxidation of nonactivated alkyl C-H groups employing H(2)O(2) as terminal oxidant. These complexes are based on tetradentate N-based ligands and contain iron centers embedded in highly structured coordination sites defined by two bulky 4,5-pinenopyridine donor ligands, a chiral diamine ligand backbone, and chirality at the metal (Λ or Δ). X-ray diffraction analysis shows that in Λ-1P and Λ-2P the pinene rings create cavity-like structures that isolate the iron site. The efficiency and regioselectivity in catalytic C-H oxidation reactions of these structurally rich complexes has been compared with those of Λ-[Fe(CF(3)SO(3))(2)((S,S)-MCP)] (Λ-1), Λ-[Fe(CF(3)SO(3))(2)((S,S)-BPBP)] (Λ-2), Δ-[Fe(CF(3)SO(3))(2)((R,R)-BPBP)] (Δ-2), Λ-[Fe(CH(3)CN)(2)((S,S)-BPBP)](SbF(6))(2) (Λ-2SbF(6)), and Δ-[Fe(CH(3)CN)(2)((R,R)-BPBP)](SbF(6))(2) (Δ-2SbF(6)), which lack the steric bulk introduced by the pinene rings. Cavity-containing complexes Λ-1P and Λ-2P exhibit enhanced activity in comparison with Δ-1P, Δ-2P, Λ-1, Λ-2, and Λ-2SbF(6). The regioselectivity exhibited by catalysts Λ-1P, Λ-2P, Δ-1P, and Δ-2P in the C-H oxidation of simple organic molecules can be predicted on the basis of the innate properties of the distinct C-H groups of the substrate. However, in specific complex organic molecules where oxidation of multiple C-H sites is competitive, the highly elaborate structure of the catalysts allows modulation of C-H regioselectivity between the oxidation of tertiary and secondary C-H groups and also among multiple methylene sites, providing oxidation products in synthetically valuable yields. These selectivities complement those accomplished with structurally simpler oxidants, including non-heme iron catalysts Λ-2 and Λ-2SbF(6).

Fast, efficient, and highly stereoselective epoxidation with H2O2 is reached by manganese coordination complexes with e-rich aminopyridine tetradentate ligands. It is shown that the electronic properties of these catalysts vary systematically with the stereoselectivity of the O-atom transfer event and exert fine control over the activation of hydrogen peroxide, reducing the amount of carboxylic acid co-catalyst necessary for efficient operation.

The efficient and selective oxidation of secondary C À H sites of alkanes is achieved by using low catalyst loadings of a non-expensive, readily available iron catalyst [Fe(II)-trans-1,2-diamine]}, and hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) as oxidant, via a simple reaction protocol. Natural products are selectively oxidized and isolated in synthetically amenable yields. The easy access to large quantities of the catalyst and the simplicity of the C À H oxidation procedure make this system a particularly convenient tool to carry out alkane C À H oxidation reactions on the preparative scale, and in short reaction times.

15 equiv. of water, in acetonitrile solution, alkenes are cis-dihydroxylated reaching yields that might be interesting for synthetic purposes. Competition experiments show that 7 exhibits preferential selectivity towards the oxidation of cis olefins over the trans analogues, and also affords better yields and high [syndiol]/A C H T U N G T R E N N U N G [epoxide] ratios when cis olefins are oxidized. For aliphatic substrates, reaction yields attained with the present system compare favourably with state of the art Fe-catalyzed cis-dihydroxylation systems, and it can be regarded as an attractive complement to the iron and manganese systems described recently and which show optimum activity against electrondeficient and aromatic olefins.