A novel catalyzed C–H insertion reactions of hydrogen peroxide by poly(4-vinylpyridine)/methyltrioxorhenium systems

p-Tolylimido rhenium(v) complexes with phenolate-based ligands: synthesis, X-ray studies and catalytic activity in oxidation with tert-butylhydroperoxide

The reactions of mer-[Re(p-NTol)X₃(PPh₃)₂] with phenolate-based ligands gave 16 new rhenium(v) complexes. Only a few of them exhibited high catalytic activity.

New p-tolylimido rhenium(v) complexes with carboxylate-based ligands: synthesis, structures and their catalytic potential in oxidations with peroxides

Novel p-tolylimido rhenium(v) complexes were obtained and calculations at the DFT level were undertaken. The complexes exhibited high catalytic activity in oxidation of alkanes and alcohols with H₂O₂ or TBHP.

Methyltrioxorhenium catalysis in nonconventional solvents: a great catalyst in a safe reaction medium

The requirement that chemical processes are sustainable, reflected in waste reduction and the use of safe reagents and reaction conditions, is becoming even more stringent as a result of pressure by society and governments to preserve the environment and protect human health. Catalysis offers numerous benefits related to green chemistry, including lowered energetic reaction requirements; catalytic, rather than stoichiometric, amounts of materials; increased selectivity; lowered consumption of processing and separation agents; and, in many cases, the use of less-toxic compounds. Our research group has for a long time been studying methyltrioxorhenium in the oxyfunctionalization of different substrates, by using H(2)O(2) or its urea-hydrogen peroxide complex as the primary oxidant. In this Review paper we aim to provide a full literature account on the catalytic activity and selectivity of methyltrioxorhenium in the oxyfunctionalization reaction, either in nonconventional solvents or under solvent-free conditions, with a particular emphasis on the use of ionic liquids as green reaction media.

One-pot synthesis of nitrones from primary amines and aldehydes catalyzed by methyltrioxorhenium

One-pot condensation/oxidation of primary amines and aldehydes using urea-hydrogen peroxide (UHP) as the stoichiometric oxidant in the presence of methyltrioxorhenium (MTO) as catalyst affords nitrones in a simple and regioselective manner. UHP is a practical and safe source of H2O2, and its use here instead of aqueous H2O2 solutions also simplifies greatly the workup procedure as extractions with organic solvents can be avoided. Typically, at the end of the reaction the solid urea is simply filtered off. From a sustainability point of view, this one-pot synthesis is simple to perform, takes place under mild conditions, has a high atom economy, and releases water as the only by-product.

An efficient and stereoselective dearylation of asarinin and sesamin tetrahydrofurofuran lignans to acuminatolide by methyltrioxorhenium/H(2)O(2) and UHP systems

The synthesis of stereoisomers of acuminatolide is rare and requires complex and time-consuming multistep procedures. Asarinin (1) and sesamin (2), two diasteromeric tetrahydrofurofuran lignans, are efficiently mono-dearylated by methyltrioxorhenium (MTO, I) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) or urea hydrogen peroxide adduct (UHP) as primary oxidant to give (-)-(7R,8'R,8R)-acuminatolide (3A) and (+)-(7S,8R,8'R)-acuminatolide (3B), respectively, in high yield and diastereoselectivity (de >98%). The oxidation of 1 was also performed with novel heterogeneous catalysts based on the heterogenation of MTO on poly(4-vinylpyridine) and polystyrene resins. In these latter cases 3A was obtained with a different yield and selectivity depending on the physical-chemical properties of the support. Cytotoxic effects of 3A and 3B in mammalian cell lines in vitro are also reported.

Heterogenization of an organorhenium(vii) oxide on a modified mesoporous molecular sieve

A novel route to heterogenize an organorhenium(VII) oxide, derived from the well examined methyltrioxorhenium(VII) (MTO), on the surface of an iodosilane-modified MCM-41 is applied. The successful grafting of the -CH(2)-ReO3 moiety on the surface was evidenced by 1H CP MAS NMR, IR spectroscopy, TG-MS, and elemental analysis. XRD and TEM analyses confirm the retaining of long-range ordering throughout the grafting process. The rhenium loading of the mesoporous material after heterogenization of MTO is found to be 1.25 wt%. Despite containing formally a derivative of the very sensitive benzyltrioxorhenium(VII) the material is stable at room temperature and applicable as a heterogeneous catalyst for aldehyde olefination reactions.

Methyltrioxorhenium catalysed synthesis of highly oxidised aryltetralin lignans with anti-topoisomerase II and apoptogenic activities

A novel and efficient procedure to prepare highly oxidised aryltetralin lignans, such as isopodophyllotoxone and (-)-aristologone derivatives, by oxidation of podophyllotoxin and galbulin with methylrhenium trioxide (MTO) and novel MTO heterogeneous catalysts is reported. It is noteworthy that in the case of isopodophyllotoxone derivatives the functionalisation of the C-4 position of the C-ring and the ring-opening of the D-lactone moiety increased the activity against topoisomerase II while causing the undesired inhibition of tubulin polymerisation to disappear. The novel (-)-aristologone derivatives showed apoptogenic activity against resistant human lymphoma cell lines.