Aerobic oxidation of p-cresols to 4-hydroxy benzaldehydes catalyzed by cobaltous chloride/NHPI/salen-Cu(II) catalytic system

摘要

Oxidation of 2-methoxy-p-cresol, p-cresol, 2-bromo-p-cresol to their corresponding 4-hydroxybenzaldehydes with atmospheric molecular oxygen as oxidant and a combination of cobaltous chloride and N-hydroxyphthalimide (NHPI) as catalyst in methanol has been investigated for the first time. The results indicated that the reaction progress was related to the substituents in the structures of the substrates: the electron-donating group methoxy favors the aerobic reaction but the electron-withdrawing group Br is detrimental to the reaction. The introduction of salen-Cu(II) complexes as the third component into the cobaltous chloride/NHPI catalytic system can considerably improve the aerobic oxidation of p-cresol and 2-brom-p-cresol to the corresponding 4-hydroxybenzaldes.