Catalytic Oxidative Cleavage of C(OH)-C Bonds in Lignin Model Compounds to Carboxylic Acids by Fe(NO3)3.9H2O/NaI/DMSO

The secondary C(OH)-C bonds are abundant in biomass such as lignin and cellulose. Thus, selective cleavage of the C(OH)-C bonds into value chemicals attracted much attention. Molecular iodine has received considerable attention as an inexpensive and readily available catalyst to yield the corresponding products in excellent yields with high selectivity, but it is highly corrosive and toxic, making its use somewhat unattractive. In this study, I2 was generated in situ from Fe(NO3)3.9H2O/NaI, which was further combined with Fe(NO3)3.9H2O to catalyze the oxidation process. In the reaction, the H2O molecule from the reaction and Fe(NO3)3.9H2O attacked the phenylglyoxal to form benzaldehyde, which was further oxidized to benzoic acid. Aryl primary and secondary benzylic alcohols from lignin were successfully transformed into aryl carboxylic acids by Fe(NO3)3.9H2O/NaI/DMSO. The catalytic system was green and efficient, avoiding the usage of toxic and corrosive molecular I2. From the experiments, it was clear that the yield of the product from the substrates with an electron-donating group was higher than that of electron-withdrawing substituted substrates, which was similar to the aryl secondary alcohols. Aryl alkyl ketones were also successfully conducted by the Fe(NO3)3.9H2O/NaI/DMSO catalytic system.