Catalytic Oxidation of Certain Xanthine Alkaloid Compounds under Conventional and Non-Conventional Conditions

Abstract

: Oxidation of Xanthine alkaloids such as Xanthine (XAN), hypoxanthine (HXAN), caffeine 1 (CAF), theophylline (TPL), theobromine (TBR), have been undertaken by Ru(III) in acetonitrile medium. The reaction is too sluggish in solution phase, but moderately fast in presence of Poly ethylene glycols (PEG) such as PEG-200, 300,400&600. PEG bound Ru(III) [H-(OCH2 -CH2 )n -O –RuCl2 (H2O)3 (CH3CN)2 ) is considered to be more reactive than Ru(III) and thus accelerate the reaction rates. However, the reactions are dramatically enhanced under microwave irradiations. Present protocol has several advantages, such as solvent-free conditions, during work-up, fast reaction times, high yields, eco-friendly operational and experimental simplicity, readily available additives as catalysts.