Macromolecular peroxo complexes of Vanadium(V) and Molybdenum(VI): Catalytic activities and biochemical relevance

Abstract Our recent achievements concerning the synthesis and characterization of water soluble peroxo complexes of V(V) and Mo(VI) in macroligand environment, as well as some key features of biological relevance of these compounds, such as their hydrolytic stability, activity with phosphohydrolase enzyme vis-à-vis free peroxovanadium (pV) or peroxomolybdenum (pMo) complexes, and their activity in biomimetic oxidative bromination are presented here. Immobilization of pMo species on insoluble polymer matrices viz., amino acid functionalized Merrifield resins and poly(acrylonitrile) on the other hand, afforded a set of heterogeneous catalysts highly effective in facile organic transformations such as selective oxidation of organic sulfides and oxidative bromination of aromatic substrates by H2O2, at ambient temperature. The methodologies are straightforward, high-yielding, halogen-free and the catalysts afford easy regeneration. Our findings illustrate the various features which make the procedures sustainable and synthetically useful. [Figure not available: see fulltext.]