ISSN print edition: 0366-6352 ISSN electronic edition: 1336-9075 Registr. No.: MK SR 9/7 Published monthly

Oxidation of 3,5-di-tert-butylcatechol in the presence of V-polyoxometalate

Xue-Feng Hu and Lei Wu

Key Laboratory of Coastal Environmental Processes, Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yantai, 264003 China

E-mail: xfhu@yic.ac.cn

Abstract: The oxidase and dioxygenase reactions of 3,5-di-tert-butylcatechol (DTBC, I) in the presence of V-polyoxometalate were studied. It was found that the addition of a Lewis base quenched the V-polyoxometalate-catalysed catechol dioxygenase reaction and catalysed the oxidase reaction selectively. The existence of V-polyoxometalate accelerates the autoxidation rate of I as demonstrated by the rate measurements. ESR and UV-VIS spectra showed that the Lewis base destroyed the dioxygenation reaction catalyst as formed and restrained its regeneration by suppressing the coordination of catechol radical to vanadium. The by-products of the dioxygenation and oxidation reactions are H₂O and H₂O₂, respectively.

Keywords: 3,5-di-tert-butylcatechol – catechol oxidase – base-catalysed – V-polyoxometalate-enhanced

Full paper is available at www.springerlink.com.

DOI: 10.2478/s11696-011-0119-x

Chemical Papers 66 (3) 211–215 (2012)