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Feature Article

Chem. Commun., 2009, 3996 - 4015, DOI: 10.1039/b901221d


Metalloporphyrin-based oxidation systems: from biomimetic reactions to application in organic synthesis

Chi-Ming Che and Jie-Sheng Huang


The oxidation of organic substrates catalyzed by metalloporphyrins constitutes a major class of biomimetic oxidation reactions used in modern synthetic chemistry. Ruthenium porphyrins are among the most extensively studied metalloporphyrin oxidation catalysts. This article provides a brief outline of the metalloporphyrin-based oxidation systems and is focused on the oxidation reactions catalyzed by ruthenium porphyrins performed in the authors laboratory. A series of ruthenium porphyrin catalysts, including those immobilized onto insoluble supports and covalently attached to soluble supports, promote the oxidation of a wide variety of organic substrates such as styrenes, cycloalkenes, ,-unsaturated ketones, steroids, benzylic hydrocarbons and arenes with 2,6-dichloropyridine-N-oxide or air in up to >99% yields, with high regio-, chemo- and/or stereoselectivity, and with product turnovers of up to 3.0 × 104, demonstrating the potential application of ruthenium porphyrin-based oxidation systems in organic syntheses.

Graphical abstract image for this article  (ID: b901221d)