Copper Catalysts for Aerobic Oxidation of Alcohols - Transition Metal Catalysis in Aerobic Alcohol Oxidation - page 40

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CHAPTER 2
Copper Catalysts for Aerobic
Oxidation of Alcohols

OINDRILA DAS AND TAPAN KANTI PAINE*

Department of Inorganic Chemistry, Indian Association for the Cultivation
of Science, 2A&2B Raja S. C. Mullick Road, Jadavpur, Kolkata-700032,
India
*Email: [e-mail]

2.1 Introduction
The catalytic aerobic oxidation of alcohols has been explored by using dif-
ferent metals and many of these catalytic systems are useful in synthetic
chemistry. 1-6 However, there remain several practical problems such as re-
action conditions and solvents, catalyst loading, recyclability of catalyst,
functional group tolerance and chemo-/stereoselectivity. Therefore, catalysis
of alcohol oxidation using aerial oxygen on an industrial scale remains a
challenging task.
Nature is the source of inspiration where metal-containing enzymes
catalyze many organic transformation reactions with high selectivity and
specificity under mild conditions through green processes. 7 Copper is one of
the most abundant natural elements in the geosphere and has the ability to
cycle between the þ 1 and þ 2 oxidation states. Because of its inherent
electronic properties and accessible redox potentials, copper takes part in
many biological functions such as structural shaping, electron transfer and
catalysis. The presence of copper in the active sites of different enzymes
makes it an appropriate choice for the development of alcohol oxidation
catalysts.

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