Iron(III) Nitrate/TEMPO-Catalyzed Aerobic Alcohol Oxidation: Distinguishing between Serial versus Integrated Redox Cooperativity

Aerobic alcohol oxidations catalyzed by transition metal salts and aminoxyls are prominent examples of cooperative catalysis. Cu/aminoxyl catalysts have been studied previously and feature “integrated cooperativity”, in which CuII and the aminoxyl participate together to mediate alcohol oxidation. Here we investigate a complementary Fe/aminoxyl catalyst system and provide evidence for “serial cooperativity”, involving a redox cascade wherein the alcohol is oxidized by an in situ-generated oxoammonium species, which is directly detected in the catalytic reaction mixture by cyclic step chronoamperometry. The mechanistic difference between the Cu- and Fe-based catalysts arises from the use iron­(III) nitrate, which initiates a NO x -based redox cycle for oxidation of aminoxyl/hydroxylamine to oxoammonium. The different mechanisms for the Cu- and Fe-based catalyst systems are manifested in different alcohol oxidation chemoselectivity and functional group compatibility.