The application of manganese complexes of ligands derived from 1,4,7-triazacyclononane in oxidative catalysis.

Since the disclosure that manganese complexes of certain azamacrocyclic ligands were potent low-temperature bleaching catalysts, considerable effort has focussed on their development towards the efficient catalytic oxidation of other substrates, principally with the environmentally benign oxidant H(2)O(2). These efforts have resulted in a broad substrate scope for the system, including alkenes (to give both epoxides and cis-diols as potential products), alcohols, sulfides and C-H oxidation. Additional developments include the heterogenisation of catalytic systems as well as the first generation of enantiomerically pure ligand systems for application in asymmetric epoxidation catalysis. To date there has only been modest success in this regard, but as our understanding of the nature of the active oxidant(s) continues to develop it is likely that there will be viable applications for these systems in the near future.