Oxidation of organic substrates catalyzed by a novel mixed-ligand [RuIII(app)(pic)(H2O)]+ complex

Cationic [RuIII(app)(pic)(H2O)]+ (1) complex (Happ=N-(hydroxyphenyl)pyridine-2-carboxaldimine; Hpic=picolinic acid) has been synthesized and characterized by physico-chemical methods and employed as catalyst in the oxidation of both saturated and unsaturated hydrocarbons using tert-butylhydroperoxide (t-BuOOH). A mechanism involving formation of and transfer from a reactive high valent Ru(V)-oxo species as catalytic intermediate is proposed for the catalytic processes.