Acid-labile epoxides such as terpene and styrene oxides are effectively synthesized in high yields with good selectivities using tungsten-catalyzed hydrogen peroxide epoxidation in the presence of Na2SO4. The salt effect is thought to originate with the addition of a saturated amount of Na2SO4 to aqueous H2O2; this addition strongly inhibited the undesired hydrolysis of the acid-labile epoxy products, despite the biphasic conditions of substrate as oil phase and H2O2 as acidic aqueous phase.
Key words
oxidation - catalysis - epoxides - terpenoids - green chemistry