Critical Role of the Coordination Environment of Palladium Dichloride on the Course of Its Reaction with Secondary Benzylic Alcohols: Selective Oxidation or Etherification Catalysts
Résumé
In refluxing 1,2-dichloroethane under an argon atmosphere, 1-indanol led to a high yield of 1-indanone in the presence of sodium carbonate and catalytic amounts of (R4N)2PdCl4, while the use of PdCl2(RCN)2 as catalyst afforded di(1-indanyl) oxide quantitatively. These distinct reactive pathways would be due to the different electronic properties of the catalysts. The etherification reaction is limited to primary and secondary benzylic alcohols.