Aerobic epoxidation of β-ionone in water under mild conditions using aldehydes as catalyst precursors

Abstract

We surprisingly found that aldehydes could be employed as catalyst precursors for the epoxidation reaction of β-ionone to produce 5,6-epoxy-β-ionone in as high as 83% yield. Notably, the reaction was performed in water and molecular oxygen (O₂) was employed as the mild, cheap and safe oxidant. To the best of our knowledge, this aerobic epoxidation in water is a novel reaction, and it may provide additional opportunities for green oxidation method development.