Homogeneous catalytic oxidation of cyclohexene by nitro complexes of copper(II)

This work describes the preliminary study of the homogeneous oxidation reac tion of cyclohexene by nitro complexes of copper(II), Cu(CH3CN)(2)(NO2)Cl ( 1) and Cu(CH3CN)(2)(NO2)(2) (2) in acetonitrile, under oxygen pressure (20 atm) at 70 and 100 degrees C. The results show the formation of 2-cyclohexe n-1-one and 1,2-epoxyhexane-3-one as main reaction products. Also, it was o bserved that the oxidation reaction at 100 degrees C with complexes 1 and 2 becomes more selective to the formation of 2-cyclohexene-1-one although th e activity of both catalyst decreases.