This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).
This project will continue work on the development and optimization of different chemoselective oxidation procedures using water-soluble hypervalent iodine reagents. Development of user and eco-friendly procedures for the selective introduction of alpha, beta-unsaturation in ketones over aldehydes, introduction of alpha, beta-unsaturation with predictable regiochemistry in unsymmetrical ketones, potential and possible selective oxidation of aliphatic aldehydes over aromatic aldehydes are some of the important goals sought during the present project period. The project also seeks to test the theoretical predictions on the reactivity of o-Iodoxybenzoic Acid derivatives with substituents ortho to the hypervalent iodine center. Underlying green chemistry themes of the project, the use of aqueous solvent mixtures as reaction media and the feasibility of carrying out the synthetically useful oxidative transformations under catalytic conditions in the presence of environmentally friendly co-oxidants are worthwhile aspects of the current project.
With this award, the Organic and Macromolecular Chemistry Program is supporting the research of Professor T. K. Vinod of the Department of Chemistry at Western Illinois University. Professor Vinod and his students are developing procedures, including catalytic procedures, for the selective oxidation of functional groups in aqueous solvent mixtures. The training of high school, BS and MS students in the art of chemical research and the underlying green chemistry theme (by devising safer chemical procedures) are broader and long-term merits of this project. Successful development of the chemoselective oxidation methodologies outlined in the current proposal will have an impact on synthesis in the pharmaceutical and agricultural industries.
