Recent developments on the epoxidation of alkenes using hydrogen peroxide as an oxidant

Abstract

This paper reviews recent developments on the epoxidation of alkenes using hydrogen peroxide as an environmentally friendly oxidant. The activation of hydrogen peroxide takes place in the presence of a homogeneous metal catalyst such as tungten, manganese, iron and rhenium or through addition of stoichiometric amounts of auxiliaries, which convert hydrogen peroxide to a more active oxidant. Hydrogen peroxide has also been used with solids catalysts such as mixed oxides, redox zeolites, layered materials and supported metal catalysts. Heterogeneous catalysts, however, suffer generally from lower activity and stability compared to the homogeneous catalysts.