Chemistry Letters, Vol.38, No.11, 1098-1099, 2009
Photocatalytic Aerobic Epoxidation of Alkenes under Visible Light Irradiation by an Iron(III) Porphyrin with Mg-Al Hydrotalcite Anionic Clay
In photocatalytic aerobic oxidation of cyclohexene catalyzed by 5,10,15,20-tetrakis(pentafluorophenyl)porphyrin-iron(III) chloride [Fe(TPFPP)Cl] under visible light irradiation, the coexistence of solid bases was found to enhance the selectivity to cyclohexene oxide drastically. In the absence of solid bases, however, only the allylic oxidation of cyclohexene was catalyzed by the porphyrin complex acting as a sensitizer. Among the various metal oxides investigated, hydrotalcite exhibited the highest conversion of cyclohexene and selectivity to cyclohexene oxide.