Oxidation of secondary alcohols by N-methylmorpholine-N-oxide (NMO) catalyzed by Ru(II) halosulfoxide complexes. A kinetic study

RuX2(DMSO)4 (X=C1, cis; Br, trans) undergoes ligand substitution in N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) to give RuX2(DMSO)3DMF, which catalyzes the oxidation of secondary alcohols by NMO to ketones. Kinetics of the reaction catalyzed by trans-RuBr2(DMSO)4 differed from that of cis-RuCl2(DMSO)4. A mechanism is proposed involving the formation of Ru(IV)oxo species as the active intermediate and a rate expression is derived. © Akadémiai Kiadó, All rights reserved.