Oxidizing liquid media for chemical transformations

1. An oxidizing composition comprising:

(a) an oxidizing electrophile comprising a main group element in oxidized form and at least one conjugate anion of an oxygen acid;

(b) a non-oxidizable liquid selected from a fluorinated hydrocarbon, a sulfone, a deactivated arene, a deactivated aliphatic, a deactivated heteroarene, a deactivated heteroaliphatic, compound (I), and a combination thereof;

wherein

the deactivated arene and deactivated heteroarene comprise at least one electron withdrawing group selected from the group consisting of —NO 2 , fluoro-C 1-8 alkyl, —F, —OOCR, —COOH, —OH 2 + , —CONH 2 , —COOR, —NR 3 + , —CN, —SO 3 H, —SO 3 R, —SO 3 W, and a combination thereof,

the deactivated aliphatic and deactivated heteroaliphatic comprise at least one electron withdrawing group selected from the group consisting of —NO 2 , —CONH 2 , —NR 3 + , —CN, —SO 3 H, —SO 3 R, —SO 3 W, and a combination thereof, provided that the deactivated aliphatic and deactivated heteroaliphatic are not methanesulfonic acid,

R is hydrogen or any aliphatic, heteroaliphatic, aromatic, or heteroaromatic moiety, each of which is optionally substituted with halo, hydroxyl, cyano, nitro, alkoxy, amino, aryl, heteroaryl, alkyl, heteroalkyl, oxo, or a combination thereof, and W is a cation comprising a metal selected from boron, bismuth, antimony, arsenic, lanthanum, cerium, scandium, yttrium, titanium, zirconium, hafnium, silver, zinc, cadmium, aluminum, gallium, indium, germanium, tin, phosphorus, an alkali metal, and an alkaline earth metal, and

compound (I) is selected from trifluoromethanol, trifluoromethyl 2,2,2-trifluoroacetate, 2,2,2-trifluoroethan-1-ol, 2,2,2-trifluoroethyl 2,2,2-trifluoroacetate, perfluoroethyl 2,2,2-trifluoroacetate, 1,1,2,2,2-pentafluoroethan-1-ol, trifluoro(nitro)methane, 1,1,2,2-tetrafluoroethane-1,2-diol, 1,1,2,2-tetrafluoro-2-hydroxyethyl 2,2,2-trifluoroacetate, perfluoroethane-1,2-diyl bis(2,2,2-trifluoroacetate), 1,1,2,2,3,3-hexafluoropropane-1,3-diol, propane-1,2,3-triyl tris(2,2,2-trifluoroacetate), oxalic acid, 1,1,1,4,4,4-hexafluorobutane-2,3-dione, methyl 2,2,3,3,3-pentafluoropropanoate, trifluoromethyl 2,2,3,3,3-pentafluoropropanoate, trifluoromethyl acetate, 1,1-difluoroethyl acetate, 2,2,2-trifluoroethyl acetate, perfluoroethyl acetate, perfluoropropan-2-yl acetate, 1,1,1,3,3,3-hexafluoropropan-2-yl acetate, 1,1,2,2-tetrafluoro-2-hydroxyethyl acetate, perfluoroethane-1,2-diyl diacetate, ethane-1,2-diyl diacetate, propane-1,2,3-triyl trisacetate, perfluoropropane-1,2,3-triyl triacetate, 1,1,3,3-tetrafluoropropane-1,2,3-triyl triacetate, 1,1-difluoroethane-1,2-diyl diacetate, trifluoro(trifluoromethoxy)methane, 1,1,1,2,2-pentafluoro-2-(trifluoromethoxy)ethane, 1,1,1,2,2-pentafluoro-2-(perfluoroethoxy)ethane, tris(trifluoromethyl)amine, 1,1,2,2,2-pentafluoro-N-(perfluoroethyl)-N-(trifluoromethyl)ethan-1-amine, tris(perfluoroethyl)amine, 2,2,2-trifluoro-N,N-bis(trifluoromethyl)acetamide, NN-bis(trifluoromethyl)formamide, 2,2,2-trifluoroacetamide, perfluoropyrrolidine, perfluoropyrroline, perfluoropyran, perfluoropiperidine, perfluorodioxane, perfluoromorpholine, perfluoropiperazine, pyrrolidine carboxylic acid, pyrroline carboxylic acid, pyran carboxylic acid, piperidine carboxylic acid, dioxane carboxylic acid, morpholine carboxylic acid, piperazine carboxylic acid, and a combination thereof, and

(c) optionally one or more salt additives of formula Q a Z b , wherein Q is a cation, Z is a bridging oxide, a terminal oxide, a hydroxide, or a conjugate anion of an oxygen acid, a is an integer from 1 to 5, and b is an integer from 1 to 5, wherein a and b are the same or different and balance the oxidation states of Q and Z; and

wherein the non-oxidizable liquid is substantially inert in the presence of the oxidizing electrophile.

2. The oxidizing composition of claim 1 , wherein the conjugate anion of the oxygen acid is an aliphatic carboxylate, heteroaliphatic carboxylate, aromatic carboxylate, heteroaromatic carboxylate, aliphatic sulfonate, heteroaliphatic sulfonate, aromatic sulfonate, heteroaromatic sulfonate, aliphatic phosphate, heteroaliphatic phosphate, aromatic phosphate, heteroaromatic phosphate, aliphatic borate, heteroaliphatic borate, aromatic borate, heteroaromatic borate, or a mixture thereof.

3. The oxidizing composition of claim 1 , comprising one or more salt additives of formula Q a Z b .

4. The oxidizing composition of claim 1 , wherein the oxidizing electrophile comprises thallium, lead, antimony, mercury, tin, selenium, tellurium, arsenic, iodine, or bismuth.

5. The oxidizing composition of claim 1 , wherein the oxidizing electrophile has a formula M +n X p L q , wherein M is a main group element cation in an oxidation state of n, X is the conjugate anion of an oxygen acid, L is a ligand, n is an integer from 2 to 6, p is an integer from 1 to 6, and q is an integer from 0 to 5.

6. The oxidizing composition of claim 5 , further comprising an oxidizing regeneration reagent to generate and/or regenerate the oxidizing electrophile of the formula M +n X p L q , wherein the oxidizing regeneration reagent is a quinone, molecular oxygen, air, a peroxide, nitric oxide, nitrous oxide, nitric acid, a nitroxide, sulfur trioxide, ozone, or a combination thereof.

7. The oxidizing composition of claim 6 , further comprising an oxidative regeneration catalyst to generate and/or regenerate the oxidizing electrophile of the formula M +n X p L q .

8. The oxidizing composition of claim 7 , wherein the oxidative regeneration catalyst comprises copper, silver, iron, cobalt, manganese, nickel, chromium, vanadium, or a combination thereof.

9. The oxidizing composition of claim 3 , wherein Z is a conjugate anion of an oxygen acid that is one or more selected from an aliphatic carboxylate, heteroaliphatic carboxylate, aromatic carboxylate, heteroaromatic carboxylate, aliphatic sulfonate, heteroaliphatic sulfonate, aromatic sulfonate, heteroaromatic sulfonate, aliphatic phosphate, heteroaliphatic phosphate, aromatic phosphate, heteroaromatic phosphate, aliphatic borate, heteroaliphatic borate, aromatic borate, heteroaromatic borate, and a mixture thereof.

10. The oxidizing composition of claim 3 , wherein Q is a proton, a cation of an alkali metal, a cation of an alkaline earth metal, a cation of a rare-earth metal, a main group element cation, or a combination thereof.

11. The oxidizing composition of claim 3 , wherein the salt additive is an oxygen acid selected from the group consisting of aliphatic carboxylic acid, heteroaliphatic carboxylic acid, aromatic carboxylic acid, heteroaromatic carboxylic acid, aliphatic sulfonic acid, heteroaliphatic sulfonic acid, aromatic sulfonic acid, heteroaromatic sulfonic acid, aliphatic phosphonic acid, heteroaliphatic phosphonic acid, aromatic phosphonic acid, heteroaromatic phosphonic acid, boric acid, aliphatic boronic acid, heteroaliphatic boronic acid, aromatic boronic acid, heteroaromatic boronic acid, and a mixture thereof.

12. A process for oxidizing a substrate, comprising:

(a) contacting a substrate and the oxidizing composition of claim 1 to provide an oxidized substrate and a reduced form of the oxidizing electrophile; and

(b) optionally separating the oxidized substrate and the reduced form of the oxidizing electrophile.

13. The process of claim 12 , wherein the oxidizing composition comprises a salt additive of formula Q a Z b , wherein Q is a cation, Z is a bridging oxide, a terminal oxide, a hydroxide, or a conjugate anion of an oxygen acid, a is an integer from 1 to 5, and b is an integer from 1 to 5, wherein a and b are the same or different and balance the oxidation states of Q and Z.

14. The process of claim 13 , wherein the conjugate anion of the oxygen acid is an aliphatic carboxylate, heteroaliphatic carboxylate, aromatic carboxylate, heteroaromatic carboxylate, aliphatic sulfonate, heteroaliphatic sulfonate, aromatic sulfonate, heteroaromatic sulfonate, aliphatic phosphate, heteroaliphatic phosphate, aromatic phosphate, heteroaromatic phosphate, aliphatic borate, heteroaliphatic borate, aromatic borate, heteroaromatic borate, or a mixture thereof.

15. The process of claim 13 , wherein Z is a conjugate anion of an oxygen acid that is one or more selected from an aliphatic carboxylate, heteroaliphatic carboxylate, aromatic carboxylate, heteroaromatic carboxylate, aliphatic sulfonate, heteroaliphatic sulfonate, aromatic sulfonate, heteroaromatic sulfonate, aliphatic phosphate, heteroaliphatic phosphate, aromatic phosphate, heteroaromatic phosphate, aliphatic borate, heteroaliphatic borate, aromatic borate, heteroaromatic borate, and a mixture thereof.

16. The process of claim 13 , wherein Q is a proton, a cation of an alkali metal, a cation of an alkaline earth metal, a cation of a rare-earth metal, a main group element cation, or a combination thereof.

17. The process of claim 13 , wherein the salt additive is an oxygen acid selected from the group consisting of aliphatic carboxylic acid, heteroaliphatic carboxylic acid, aromatic carboxylic acid, heteroaromatic carboxylic acid, aliphatic sulfonic acid, heteroaliphatic sulfonic acid, aromatic sulfonic acid, heteroaromatic sulfonic acid, aliphatic phosphonic acid, heteroaliphatic phosphonic acid, aromatic phosphonic acid, heteroaromatic phosphonic acid, boric acid, aliphatic boronic acid, heteroaliphatic boronic acid, aromatic boronic acid, heteroaromatic boronic acid, and a mixture thereof.

18. The process of claim 12 , wherein the oxidizing electrophile comprises thallium, lead, antimony, mercury, tin, selenium, tellurium, arsenic, iodine, or bismuth.

19. The process of claim 12 , wherein the substrate is an aliphatic, heteroaliphatic, aromatic, heteroaromatic, or a combination thereof.

20. The process of claim 12 , further comprising (c) contacting the reduced form of the oxidizing electrophile and an oxidizing regeneration reagent to regenerate the oxidizing electrophile.

21. The process of claim 20 , wherein the oxidizing regeneration reagent is a quinone, molecular oxygen, air, a peroxide, nitric oxide, nitrous oxide, nitric acid, a nitroxide, sulfur trioxide, ozone, or a combination thereof.

22. The process of claim 20 , wherein the reduced form of the oxidizing electrophile and the oxidizing regeneration reagent are contacted to regenerate the oxidizing electrophile in the presence of an oxidative regeneration catalyst.

23. The process of claim 22 , wherein the oxidative regeneration catalyst comprises copper, silver, iron, cobalt, manganese, nickel, chromium, vanadium, or a combination thereof.

24. The process of claim 12 , wherein the oxidizing electrophile has a formula M +n X p L q , wherein M is a main group element cation in an oxidation state of n, X is the conjugate anion of an oxygen acid, L is a ligand, n is an integer from 2 to 6, p is an integer from 1 to 6, and q is an integer from 0 to 5.

25. The process of claim 24 , further comprising (c) contacting the reduced form of the oxidizing electrophile and an oxidizing regeneration reagent to regenerate the oxidizing electrophile of the formula M +n X p L q .

26. The process of claim 25 , wherein the oxidizing regeneration reagent is a quinone, molecular oxygen, air, a peroxide, nitric oxide, nitrous oxide, nitric acid, a nitroxide, sulfur trioxide, ozone, or a combination thereof.

27. The process of claim 25 , wherein the reduced form of the oxidizing electrophile and the oxidizing regeneration reagent are contacted to regenerate the oxidizing electrophile in the presence of an oxidative regeneration catalyst.

28. The process of claim 27 , wherein the oxidative regeneration catalyst comprises copper, silver, iron, cobalt, manganese, nickel, chromium, vanadium, or a combination thereof.