Real-time monitoring of the catalytic oxidation of alcohols to aldehydes and ketones on resin support by single-bead Fourier transform infrared microspectroscopy

Catalytic oxidations of primary, benzylic, and secondary alcohols to aldehydes and ketone using tetra-n-propylammonium perruthenate (TPAP) were carried out on resin supports for the first time. The reaction time course, percent conversion, and influence of catalyst amount have been determined by analyzing IR spectra taken directly on a single resin bead in real time. Using 0.2 equiv of TPAP, a 92-97% conversion of alcohol to aldehyde or ketone has been achieved in 0.7-4 h based on the rates (rate constants (1.9 x 10(-4))-(2.5 x 10(-3)) s(-1)) of disappearance and appearance of IR bands characteristic for alcohol, aldehyde, and ketone. The rapid adaptation of this oxidation method for solid-phase synthesis demonstrates that single-bead FTIR microspectroscopy is a powerful method for facilitating the time-consuming reaction optimization stage of combinatorial chemistry.