Baeyer—Villiger Oxidation of Cyclic Ketones with Hydrogen Peroxide Catalyzed by Cationic Complexes of Platinum(II): Selectivity Properties and Mechanistic Studies

The catalytic oxidation of simple cyclic ketones with hydrogen peroxide to give the corresponding lactones is reported. The reaction is catalyzed by complexes of Pt(II) of the type [(P-P)Pt(CF3)(solv)]+ (P-P = diphosphine) that may be deactivated by the hydroxy acids formed by hydrolysis of the lactones. The selectivity of the catalyst is studied in the oxidation of substrates like camphor, 2-cyclohexene-1-one, menthone, carvone, and indanones. Cyclobutanone is used to determine the mechanism of the reaction from initial rate studies. The reaction scheme proposed, which accounts for the observed effects of the various reactants, involves the coordination of the ketone on the vacant coordination site of the complex followed by nucleophilic attack of free hydrogen peroxide on the carbonyl carbon. The involvement of a quasi-peroxymetallacyclic intermediate is suggested which rearranges to give the lactone and the starting complex. A comparison with the mechanistic behavior of organic peroxy acids is given. © 1993, American Chemical Society. All rights reserved.