Oxidation of Alcohols and Aldehydes with Peracetic Acid and a Mn(II)/Pyridin-2-Carboxylato Catalyst: Substrate and Continuous Flow Studies

Abstract

A homogeneous catalyst system consisting of Mn(OAc)2 and 2-picolinic acid was studied for alcohol oxidation using peracetic acid as the oxidant. Catalyst loadings as low as 0.01 mol% could be utilized and the system compared well to other peroxide based methods. The utilization of continuous flow allowed the fast, exothermic reactions to be carried out in a safe and scalable manner.