Alumina: a cheap, active and selective catalyst for epoxidations with (aqueous) hydrogen peroxide

Chromatography alumina catalyses the epoxidation of alkenes with hydrogen peroxide under nearly anhydrous conditions. A variety of different aluminas show a similar catalytic behaviour. The hydrogen peroxide can be used as a preformed anhydrous solution in ethyl acetate, or it can be dried in situ by conducting the reaction under reflux with Dean-Stark water separation. The presence of a small amount of water in the reaction medium was shown to be of crucial importance.