Oxidation of styrene and cyclohexene under microwave conditions

The coupling of microwave energy with solvent-free phase-transfer catalysis was studied for the oxidation of cyclohexene and styrene. The former Noyori oxidation system (Science, 1998, 281, 1646) was restudied under the aforementioned conditions and optimised. In addition, parallel oxidations were successfully employed by using a special microwave set-up.