Oxygen and Osmium-A New Alliance for Dihydroxylations?

Alkenes are converted to 1,2-diols or glycols through a process called dihydroxylation. It involves the addition of two hydroxyl groups across the double bond with two different stereochemical approaches, namely anti and syn. Dihydroxylation using osmium tetroxide progresses with syn stereochemistry.

Alkenes can be dihydroxylated using potassium permanganate. The method encompasses the reaction of an alkene with a cold, dilute solution of potassium permanganate under basic conditions to form a cis-diol along with a brown precipitate of manganese dioxide.

Diols are compounds with two hydroxyl groups. In addition to syn dihydroxylation, diols can also be synthesized through the process of anti dihydroxylation. The process involves treating an alkene with a peroxycarboxylic acid to form an epoxide. Epoxides are highly strained three-membered rings with oxygen and two carbons occupying the corners of an equilateral triangle. This step is followed by ring-opening of the epoxide in the presence of an aqueous acid to give a trans diol.

In ozonolysis, ozone is used to cleave a carbon–carbon double bond to form aldehydes and ketones, or carboxylic acids, depending on the work-up.
Ozone is a symmetrical bent molecule stabilized by a resonance structure.

In this lesson, the oxidation of alcohols is discussed in depth. The various reagents used for oxidation of primary and secondary alcohols are detailed, and their mechanism of action is provided.
The process of oxidation in a chemical reaction is observed in any of the three forms:

Energy production within a cell involves many coordinated chemical pathways. Most of these pathways are combinations of oxidation and reduction reactions, which occur at the same time. An oxidation reaction strips an electron from an atom in a compound, and the addition of this electron to another compound is a reduction reaction. Because oxidation and reduction usually occur together, these pairs of reactions are called redox reactions.
The removal of an electron from a molecule, results in a...