Abstract
Direct hydroxylation of arenes to phenols with hydrogen peroxide as a green oxidant is an attractive approach. In the present study, we prepared several copper (II) complexes bearing tetra- (N4), tri- (N3) and pentadentate (N5) ligands, and the copperII-N4 complex could act as an efficient catalyst for hydroxylation of benzenes with H2O2 (up to 22.4% yield of phenols with 10.0 equiv. H2O2, and 38.0% yield of phenol with limited amount of H2O2) at room temperature. X-ray crystallographic analysis indicates that the CuII-N4 complex exhibits a square-pyramidal geometry and that two methyl groups connecting to the diamine are cis to each other. In comparison, copper(II) complexes supported by tri- (N3) and pentadentate (N5) ligands were also evaluated in the hydroxylation of benzene, demonstrating inferior performance.
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