Autoxidation of tetralin using surface-active dimethylethylenediamine complexes of cobalt

초록

Biphasic catalytic reaction scheme in which a surface-active complexing agent or ligand is used to draw the catalyst to the organic-water interface where it effects the desired reaction can offer the following advantages : the avoidance of the use of a toxic or environmentally-troublesome solvent, ease of catalyst recovery and substrate recycle, and the attainment of high reactivity, selectivity and reproducibility under mild reaction conditions. In this work, organic-water interfacial technique has been applied to the autoxidation of tetralin using dimethylethylenediamine (DMEDA) complexes of cobalt. This reaction is a key intermediary step in the commercial production of α-naphthol. The reaction was also carried out in a homogeneous mode using dimethylformamide (DMF) as a solvent, and it was demonstrated that some fundamental differences do exist between the biphasic and homogeneous reaction schemes.