POLYOXOMETALATES AS HOMOGENEOUS CATALYSTS FOR ORGANIC OXIDATIONS

The study of catalytic homogeneous oxidations of organic substrates by polyoxometallates, i.e. isopolyanions and, in particular, heteropolyanions is a fast growing area of both academic and industrial interest. This brief account is intended to highlight recent advances in the field and to underline the pressing need for a more detailed understanding of how these oxidations occur. The literature on the subject up to 1987 has been comprehensively covered by Kozhevnikov(1) and Pope has produced excellent reviews on the anions(2, 3). The following brief introduction is drawn from the latter references and serves simply to remind the reader of the basic principles of the subject.