Ruthenium-catalyzed oxidation of alkanes with tert-butyl hydroperoxide andperacetic acid

The ruthenium-catalyzed oxidation of alkanes with tert-butyl hydroperoxide and peracetic acid gives the corresponding ketones and alcohols highly effi ciently at room temperature. The former catalytic system, RuCl2(PPh3)(3)-t- BuOOH, is preferable to the oxidation of alkylated arenes to give aryl keto nes. The latter system, Ru/C-CH3CO3H, is suitable especially for the synthe sis of ketones and alcohols from alkanes. The ruthenium-catalyzed oxidation of cyclohexane with CH3CO3H in trifluoroacetic acid/CH2Cl2 at room tempera ture gave cyclohexyl trifluoroacetate and cyclohexanone with 90% conversion and 90% selectivity (85:15). The mechanistic study indicates that these ca talytic oxidations of hydrocarbons involve oxo-ruthenium species as key int ermediates.