Department of Organic Chemistry, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot-76100, Israel.
Nat Chem. 2013 Feb;5(2):122-5. doi: 10.1038/nchem.1536. Epub 2013 Jan 6.
The oxidation of alcohols to carboxylic acids is an important industrial reaction used in the synthesis of bulk and fine chemicals. Most current processes are performed by making use of either stoichiometric amounts of toxic oxidizing agents or the use of pressurized dioxygen. Here, we describe an alternative dehydrogenative pathway effected by water and base with the concomitant generation of hydrogen gas. A homogeneous ruthenium complex catalyses the transformation of primary alcohols to carboxylic acid salts at low catalyst loadings (0.2 mol%) in basic aqueous solution. A consequence of this finding could be a safer and cleaner process for the synthesis of carboxylic acids and their derivatives at both laboratory and industrial scales.
醇氧化为羧酸是一种重要的工业反应，用于合成大宗和精细化学品。目前大多数工艺都使用化学计量的有毒氧化剂或加压氧气来进行。在这里，我们描述了一种由水和碱引起的替代脱氢途径，同时生成氢气。在碱性水溶液中，以低催化剂负载量（0.2 mol%），均相钌配合物可以催化伯醇转化为羧酸盐。这一发现的结果可能是在实验室和工业规模上，为羧酸及其衍生物的合成提供更安全、更清洁的工艺。
