Abstract
In nature, redox enzymes mediated dioxygen activation with oxidations
proceeds smoothly and highly selectively under ambient temperature, whereas in the
chemical industry, versatile oxidations are commonly performed at elevated
temperature, which leads to the occurrence of radical chain process, thus causing low
product selectivity and environmental pollution. This chapter will first introduce the
strategies of enzymes including P450s, methane monooxygenase, dioxygenases in
dioxygen activation and catalysis, thus illustrating how enzymes activate dioxygen and
selectively transfer the resulting active oxygen to their substrates. Then, inspired by
enzymatic dioxygen activation, the progress in biomimetic dioxygen activation with
related catalytic oxidations by synthetic redox metal complexes will be presented, and
its current challenges will be discussed as well. Finally, a recent new strategy for
dioxygen activation and catalysis, that is, Lewis acid promoted dioxygen activation by
redox metal complexes, will be introduced; this new strategy may have more closely
biomimicked enzymatic dioxygen activation than those traditional strategies, thus
shedding new light on catalyst design for industrial oxidations.