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Copper species are widely found in nature and are present in many enzymes as di-, tri-or polynuclear Cu centers that catalyze selectively various oxidation reactions.[1] These reactions include the poorly characterized particulate methane monooxygenase (pMMO), which is present in methanotrophs, wherein a tri-or multinuclear Cu cluster catalyzes alkane hydroxylation and alkene epoxidation.[1f-i] Although increasing attention has been paid to the design of Cu complexes with polydentate ligands as models of copper oxidases [1a,b, 2] and some mononuclear compounds have been

Abstract:The mono-, di-, tri-, tetra-and polynuclear copper (II) (5), respectively, are highly active and selective catalysts or catalyst precursors for the peroxidative oxidation of cyclohexane, in acetonitrile, to a cyclohexanol and cyclohexanone mixture, by aqueous hydrogen peroxide in acidic medium (liquid biphasic catalysis) at room temperature and atmospheric pressure. The effects on the catalytic activity of various factors, e.g., the relative amounts of cyclohexane, oxidant, catalyst, solvent and nitric acid, reaction time, catalyst recycling and impact of both carbon-and oxygen-centred radical traps (supporting mainly radical mechanisms) were investigated and allowed us to achieve yields and TONs up to ca. 39% and 380, respectively, corresponding to the most active copper systems so far reported for the oxidation of cyclohexane under mild conditions. The catalysts can be reused for recycling and, at least complex 4 maintains almost the same level of activity even after five reaction cycles. The preparation of the new complexes 1, 2b and 2c by self-assembly at room temperature, and their full characterization by IR spectroscopy, FAB-MS þ , elemental and X-ray diffraction structural (for 1 and 2c) analyses are also reported.

Vanadium(IV or V) complexes with N,O- or O,O-ligands, i.e., [VO{N(CH2CH2O)3}], Ca[V(HIDPA)2] (synthetic amavadine), Ca[V(HIDA)2], or [Bu4N]2[V(HIDA)2] [HIDPA, HIDA = basic form of 2,2'-(hydroxyimino)dipropionic or -diacetic acid, respectively], [VO(CF3SO3)2], Ba[VO(nta)(H2O)]2 (nta = nitrilotriacetate), [VO(ada)(H2O)] (ada = N-2-acetamidoiminodiacetate), [VO(Hheida)(H2O)] (Hheida = 2-hydroxyethyliminodiacetate), [VO(bicine)] [bicine = basic form of N,N-bis(2-hydroxyethyl)glycine], and [VO(dipic)(OCH2CH3)] (dipic = pyridine-2,6-dicarboxylate), are catalyst precursors for the efficient single-pot conversion of methane into acetic acid, in trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) under moderate conditions, using peroxodisulfate as oxidant. Effects on the yields and TONs of various factors are reported. TFA acts as a carbonylating agent and CO is an inhibitor for some systems, although for others there is an optimum CO pressure. The most effective catalysts (as amavadine) bear triethanolaminate or (hydroxyimino)dicarboxylates and lead, in a single batch, to CH3COOH yields > 50% (based on CH4) or remarkably high TONs up to 5.6 x 103. The catalyst can remain active upon multiple recycling of its solution. Carboxylation proceeds via free radical mechanisms (CH3* can be trapped by CBrCl3), and theoretical calculations disclose a particularly favorable process involving the sequential formation of CH3*, CH3CO*, and CH3COO* which, upon H-abstraction (from TFA or CH4), yields acetic acid. The CH3COO* radical is formed by oxygenation of CH3CO* by a peroxo-V complex via a V{eta1-OOC(O)CH3} intermediate. Less favorable processes involve the oxidation of CH3CO* by the protonated (hydroperoxo) form of that peroxo-V complex or by peroxodisulfate. The calculations also indicate that (i) peroxodisulfate behaves as a source of sulfate radicals which are methane H-abstractors, as a peroxidative and oxidizing agent for vanadium, and as an oxidizing and coupling agent for CH3CO* and that (ii) TFA is involved in the formation of CH3COOH (by carbonylating CH3*, acting as an H-source to CH3COO*, and enhancing on protonation the oxidizing power of a peroxo-VV complex) and of CF3COOCH3 (minor product in the absence of CO).