Five new 1,4,7-triazacyclononane-derived compounds, sodium 3-(4,7-dimethyl-1,4,7-triazacyclononan-1-yl)propionate(Na[L
Me2R']) as well as the enantiopure derivatives (
S)-1-(2-methylbutyl)-4,7-dimethyl-1,4,7-triazacyclononane (
S-L
Me2R''),
SS-trans-2,5,8-trimethyl-2,5,8-triazabicyclo[7.4.0
1,9]tridecane (
SS-L
BMe3), (
S)-1-(2-hydroxypropyl)-4,7-dimethyl-1,4,7-triazacyclononane (
S-L
Me2R), and (
R)-1-(2-hydroxypropyl)-4,7-dimethyl-1,4,7-triazacyclononane (
R-L
Me2R), havebeen synthesized. Reaction of manganese dichloride with the chiral macrocycles
S-L
Me2R and
R-L
Me2R in aqueousethanol gives, upon oxidation with hydrogen peroxide, the brown dinuclear Mn(III)-Mn(IV) complexes which areenantiomers, [Mn
2(
S-L
Me2R)
2(
![](/images/entities/mgr.gif)
-O)
2]
3+ (
S,
S-
1) and [Mn
2(
R-L
Me2R)
2(
![](/images/entities/mgr.gif)
-O)
2]
3+ (
R,
R-
1). The single-crystal X-ray structureanalyses of [
S,
S-
1][
PF6]
3·0.5(CH
3)
2CO and [
R,
R-
1][PF
6]
3·0.5(CH
3)
2CO show both enantiomers to contain Mn(III)and Mn(IV) centers, each of which being coordinated to three nitrogen atoms of a triazacyclononane ligand andeach of which being bridged by two oxo and by two chiral hydroxypropyl pendent arms of the macrocycle. Theenantiomeric complexes
S,
S-
1 and
R,
R-
1 were found to catalyze the oxidation of olefins, alkanes, and alcoholswith hydrogen peroxide. In the epoxidation of indene the enantiomeric excess values attain 13%. The bond selectivitiesof the oxidation of linear and branched alkanes suggest the crucial step in this process to be the attack of asterically hindered high-valent manganese-oxo species on the C-H bond.