Spontaneous oxygenation reactions are in general slow and require sophisticated homogeneous catalysts. A typical example is the hydroxylation of camphor by cytochrome P450_cam .  The overall reaction is given by:    RH + O₂ + 2H⁺ + 2e^- > ROH + H₂O. The challenging question is what evidence exists for the suggested intermediates?

Our group has in recent years focused on the application of low-temperature rapid-scan techniques in an effort to ‘catch’ these reactive intermediates during homogeneously catalyzed oxygenation reactions and to monitor their kinetic/mechanistic behavior. An overview of our most recent findings will be presented.

Contact person: Professor Simon Lotz,  Tel: (012) 420 2800