Abstract
The objective of this review is to survey the current state of the Wacker and related alkene oxidation reactions focusing on the reactions of higher alkenes and emphasizing the mechanistic pictures that have evolved, the current understanding regarding issues of selectivity, recent applications of the chemistry in synthesis, and the use of other transition metal catalysts to effect related oxidation reactions.
Keywords: wacker reaction, alkene oxidation reactions, palladium(II)-catalyzed reaction, wacker oxidation