Peroxidative oxidation of cycloalkane by di-, tetra- and polynuclear copper(II) complexes

Di-, tetra- and polynuclear copper(II) complexes with N2O donor system, [Cu-2(L-1)(mu(2)-pz)(CH3COO)(2)] (1), [Cu-4(L-1)(2)(mu(4)-O)(mu(2)-CH3COO)(2)(mu(1,1)-N-3)(N-3)] (2) and [Cu-2(L-2)(mu(1,1)-N-3)(mu(1,3)-N-3)(2)](infinity) (3) respectively (where pz = pyrazolato, HL1 = 2,6-bis(morpholinomethyl)-4-tert-butylphenol and HL2 = 2,6-bis(morpholinomethyl)-4-methylphenol) have been employed as catalysts for the peroxidative oxidation of cyclohexane and cycloheptane in the presence of hydrogen peroxide as the oxidant at room temperature and under atmospheric pressure. The oxidized products of cyclohexane are cyclohexanol and cyclohexanone, whereas cycloheptane is oxidized to cycloheptanol and cycloheptanone.