18-4
The first step in the reduction of O2 in aprotic solvents such as dimethyl sulfoxide and pyridine appears to be a one- electron step to give the superoxide anion
Whereas in aqueous solution a two- electron step occurs to give HO
It can also be seen from the potential given above that neutral water saturated with O2 is a fairly good oxidizing agent. For example, although Cr+ is just stable toward oxidation in pure water, in air- saturated water it is rapidly oxidized; Fe2+ is oxidized (only slowly in acid, but rapidly in base) to Fe3+ in presence of air, although in air-free water Fe2+ is quite stable
Many oxidations by oxygen in acid solution are are slow, but the rates of oxidation may be vastly increased by catalytic amounts of transition-metal ions, especially Cu2+ , where a Cu-Cu redox cycle is involed.
O2 is readily soluble in organic solvents, and merely pouring these liquids in air serves to saturate them with O2. This should be kept in mind when determining the reactivity of air-sensitive materials in solution inorganic solvent s.
Measurements of electronic spectra of alcohols, ethers, benzene, and even saturated hydrocarbons show that there is reaction of the charge-transfer type with the oxygen molecule, there is no true complex formation, since the heats of formation are negligible and the spectral changes are due to contact between the molecules at van der Waals distances. The classic example is that of N,N-dimethylaniline which becomes yellow in air or oxygen but colorless again when the oxygen is removed. Such weak charge-transfer complexes make certain electronic transitions in molecules more intense; they are also a plausible first stage in photo-oxidations.
With certain transition-metal complexes, O2 adducts may be formed, some times reversibly (page 307). Although the O2 entity remains intact, the complexes may be described as having coordinated O2 or O2 ions, bound to the metal in a three- membered ring or as a bridging group. Coordinated O2 is more reactive than free O2, and substances not directly oxidized under mild conditions can be attracked in presence of metal complexes.
Singlet O2 and Photochemical Oxidations. The lowest-energy electron configuration of the molecule that contains two electrons in π orbitals, gives rise to three states, as is shown below. Oxygen molecules in excited singlet states, especially the 1 state, which has a much longer lifetime than the 1 state, react with a variety of unsaturated organic substrates to cause limited, specific