Recent Advances in Bioinspired Asymmetric Epoxidations with Hydrogen Peroxide

Manganese Catalyzed Enantioselective Epoxidation of α,β‐Unsaturated Amides with H2O2

“…Shibasaki and co‐workers developed a series of catalyst systems, based on lanthanide metal complexes, employing TBHP as oxidant [10–12] for the asymmetric epoxidation of trans ‐enamides. In recent years, manganese complexes with chiral bis ‐amino‐ bis ‐pyridine and structurally related ligands have emerged as challenging catalysts for enantioselective epoxidations of various olefins (unfunctionalized alkenes, unsaturated ketones and esters) with environmentally benign oxidant hydrogen peroxide [13–16] …”

Recent progress in catalytic oxygenation of aromatic C–H groups with the environmentally benign oxidants H2O2 and O2

“…However, designing catalyst systems for the selective oxidation of substituted phenols to the corresponding quinone derivatives, considered as precursors for the production of various biologically active compounds (e.g., vitamin K 3 ), [ 17,18 ] was also challenging in the past years. In line with our long‐term interest in the environmentally benign selective oxofunctionalization of organic compounds, including chemo‐ and stereoselective C–H oxygenations, [ 19–23 ] we present herein a summary of the progress made in the catalytic oxygenations of aromatic C–H groups with H 2 O 2 and O 2 , achieved in the past decade, with a focus on their catalytic performance (activity and selectivity) and overall synthetic utility. Mechanistic details, if available, are mentioned briefly.…”