Singlet oxygen generation from H2O2/MoO42−: peroxidation of hydrophobic substrates in pure organic solvents

Seventeen organic solvents are screened as reaction media to conduct the molybdate-catalyzed disproportionation of hydrogen peroxide into singlet molecular oxygen, 1O2 (1Δg). The solvents are investigated by resorting to the detection of the infra-red luminescence of 1O2 at 1270 nm. Preparative peroxidations of representative substrates are carried out in the most efficient ones. The latter are protic and polar and constitute a simpler alternative to the well suited but more intricate microemulsion systems for the peroxidation of hydrophobic substrates with chemically generated 1O2.