Fabrication of Se/C using carbohydrates as biomass starting materials: an efficient catalyst for regiospecific epoxidation of β-ionone with ultrahigh turnover numbers

Abstract

Using carbohydrates as a cheap biomass carbon source, an efficient heterogeneous Se/C catalyst was easily fabricated for the regiospecific epoxidation of β-ionone with ultrahigh catalyst turnover numbers (TON, up to 3.9 × 10⁵). The reaction was performed in ethyl acetate and produced (E)-4-(2,2,6-trimethyl-7-oxabicyclo[4.1.0]heptan-1-yl)but-3-en-2-one, an important chemical in flavor development and a key intermediate in the total synthesis of abscisic acid. This work not only provides a relatively green and regiospecific method for β-ionone epoxidation, but also represents a breakthrough in Se catalyst development, making full use of Se resources to obtain a much higher catalyst TON compared with conventional homogeneous organoselenium catalysts.