Kinetics and mechanism of the oxidation of alkylaromatic compounds by a trans-dioxoruthenium(VI) complex.

The oxidations of a series of 21 alkylaromatic compounds by trans-[Ru(VI)(L)(O)(2)](2+) (L = 1,12-dimethyl-3,4:9,10-dibenzo-1,12-diaza-5,8-dioxacyclopentadecane) have been studied in CH(3)CN. Toluene is oxidized to benzaldehyde and a small amount of benzyl alcohol. 9,10-Dihydroanthracene is oxidized to anthracene and anthraquinone. Other substrates give oxygenated products. The kinetics of the reactions were monitored by UV-vis spectrophotometry, and the rate law is: -d[Ru(VI)]/dt = k(2)[Ru(VI)][ArCH(3)]. The kinetic isotope effects for the oxidation of toluene/d(8)-toluene and fluorene/d(10)-fluorene are 15 and 10.5, respectively. A plot of Delta H(++) versus Delta S(++) is linear, suggesting a common mechanism for all the substrates. In the oxidation of para-substituted toluenes, a linear correlation between log k(2) and sigma(0) values is observed, consistent with a benzyl radical intermediate. A linear correlation between Delta G(++) and Delta H(0) (the difference between the strength of the bond being broken and that being formed in a H-atom transfer step) is also found, which strongly supports a hydrogen atom transfer mechanism for the oxidation of these substrates by trans-[Ru(VI)(L)(O)(2)](2+). The slope of (0.61 +/- 0.06) is in reasonable agreement with the theoretical slope of 0.5 predicted by Marcus theory.