Molybdenum‐catalysed epoxidation of olefins with alkyl hydroperoxides II. Isolation and structure of the catalyst

The catalysts isolated from the reaction mixtures of the molybdenum‐catalysed epoxidations of various olefins with tert‐butyl hydroperoxide were all found to be soluble Mo(VI)‐1,2‐diol complexes. The structure of the diol complex is directly related to the structure of the olefin being epoxidized and is independent of the type of molybdenum compound originally added as the catalyst. Separate experiments have shown that the diol complexes are formed in situ by reaction of the molybdenum catalyst with the epoxide in the presence of the hydroperoxide.