Titanium-Catalyzed Asymmetric Epoxidation of Olefins with Aqueous Hydrogen Peroxide: Remarkable Effect of Phosphate Buffer on Epoxide Yield

The practicality of Ti(salan)-catalyzed asymmetric -epoxidation was significantly improved by the addition of phosphate buffer (pH 7.4-8.0). Various olefins were transformed on a multigram scale into the corresponding epoxides with nearly -complete product selectivity as well as high to excellent enantio-selectivity in the presence of 1 mol% of the catalyst and the buffer.