BAEYER-VILLIGER OXIDATION OF KETONES BY PEROXOMOLYBDENUM COMPLEXES - A REVISIT

The Baeyer-Villiger oxidation of cyclopentanone to delta-valerolactone by a peroxomolybdenum complex, MoO(O), (dipic), under catalytic (hydrogen peroxide) conditions was reported in the literature some years ago. Such a reaction might have both synthetic and mechanistic significance, being the only available example of nucleophilic reactivity of Group VI peroxometal complexes. However, the results of a reinvestigation of the reaction presented in this paper indicate that the oxidation is carried out by hydrogen peroxide and that the role Of MoO(O)2 (dipic) as well that of other molybdenum derivatives is simply to catalyze the reaction owing to their strong acid nature.