Selective oxidation of styrene to acetophenone in the presence of ionic liquidsPresented, in part, at the IUPAC CHEMRAWN XIV Conference on Green Chemistry:Toward Environmentally Benign Processes and Products, Boulder, Colorado, USA, 9–13 June 2001.

Abstract

Palladium-catalyzed oxidation of styrene (Wacker reaction) in the presence of 1,3-dialkylimidazolium cation based ionic liquids is described under relatively benign conditions using hydrogen peroxide. The effects of various reaction parameters and a comparison of this approach with the corresponding reactions under pressurized conditions have been made.