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.