Rapid and highly selective epoxidation of alkenes by tetrabutylammonium monopersulfate in the presence of manganese meso-tetrakis(pentafluorophenyl)porphyrin and tetrabutylammonium salts or imidazole co-catalysts

Epoxidation of various alkenes in low to high yields (29-100%) and good to excellent selectivities (75-100%) was performed with tetrabutylammonium monopersulfate in the presence of meso-tetrakis(pentafluorophenyl)porphyrin as catalyst and tetrabutylammonium acetate or fluoride or imidazole as co-catalysts in CH2Cl2, in less than 10 min at room temperature (∼25 °C).