Biomimetic oxidation of 3,5-di-tert-butylcatechol by dioxygen via Mn-enhanced base catalysis

The 6-coordinate dioximatomanganese(II) complex [Mn(HL)(CH3OH)](+) (2, where H2L is [HON=C(CH3) C(CH3) = NCH2CH2] 2NH), formed by instant solvolysis of [Mn-2(HL)(2)](BPh4)(2) (1) in methanol, accelerates the triethylamine (TEA)-catalyzed oxidation of 3,5-di-tert-butylcatechol (H(2)dtbc) by O-2 to the corresponding o-benzoquinone. Significantly, 2 alone has no catalytic effect. The observed rate increase can be explained by the interaction of 2 with the hydroperoxo intermediate HdtbcO(2)-formed from Hdtbc-and O-2 in the TEA-catalyzed oxidation. The kinetics of the TEA-catalyzed and Mn-enhanced reaction has been studied by gas-volumetric monitoring of the amount of O2 consumed. The initial rate of O2 uptake (V in) shows a first-order dependence on the concentration of 2 and O2 and saturation kinetics with respect to both H2dtbc and TEA. The observed kinetic behavior is consistent with parallel TEA-catalyzed and Mn-enhanced oxidation paths. The 3,5-di -tert-butylsemiquinone anion radical is an intermediate detectable by electron spin resonance (ESR) spectroscopy. The dimeric catalyst precursor has been characterized by X-ray diffraction and electrospray ionization mass spectrometry and the monomeric catalyst by ESR spectroscopy.