Quinone-Catalyzed Selective Oxidation of Organic Molecules

Quinones are common stoichiometric reagents in organic chemistry. Para-quinones with high reduction potentials, such as DDQ and chloranil, are widely used and typically promote hydride abstraction. In recent years, many catalytic applications of these methods have been achieved by using transition metals, electrochemistry, or O-2 to regenerate the oxidized quinone in situ. Complementary studies have led to the development of a different class of quinones that resemble the ortho-quinone cofactors in copper amine oxidases and mediate the efficient and selective aerobic and/or electrochemical dehydrogenation of amines. The latter reactions typically proceed by electrophilic transamination and/or addition-elimination reaction mechanisms, rather than hydride abstraction pathways. The collective observations show that the quinone structure has a significant influence on the reaction mechanism and has important implications for the development of new quinone reagents and quinone-catalyzed transformations.