The Rubottom oxidation is a useful, high-yielding chemical reaction between silyl enol ethers and peroxyacids to give the corresponding α-hydroxy carbonyl product.[1][2][3][4][5] The mechanism of the reaction was proposed in its original disclosure by A.G. Brook[6][7] with further evidence later supplied by George M. Rubottom.[8] After a Prilezhaev-type oxidation of the silyl enol ether with the peroxyacid to form the siloxy oxirane intermediate, acid-catalyzed ring-opening yields an oxocarbenium ion.[1][4] This intermediate then participates in a 1,4-silyl migration (Brook rearrangement) to give an α-siloxy carbonyl derivative that can be readily converted to the α-hydroxy carbonyl compound in the presence of acid, base, or a fluoride source.[1][9][10]
^Chen, B. C.; Zhou, P.; Davis, F. A.; Ciganek, E. (2003) “α-Hydroxylation of Enolates and Silyl Enol Ethers." in Organic Reactions; Ed. Overman, L.E. Wiley, Chapter 1, pp. 1–355, doi:10.1002/0471264180.or062.01.
^Brook, A. G.; Macrae, D. M. (1974). "1, 4-Silyl Rearrangements of Siloxyalkenes to Siloxyketones During Peroxidation". J. Organomet. Chem. 77 (2): C19–C21. doi:10.1016/S0022-328X(00)81332-7.
^Brook, A. G. (1974). "Molecular Rearrangements of Organosilicon Compounds". Acc. Chem. Res. 7 (3): 77–84. doi:10.1021/ar50075a003.
^Rubottom, G. M.; Gruber, J. M.; Boeckman, R. K. Jr; Ramaiah, M.; Medwid, J. B. (1978). "Clarification of the Mechanism of Rearrangement of Enol Silyl Ether Epoxides". Tetrahedron Lett. 19 (47): 4603–4606. doi:10.1016/S0040-4039(01)85682-3.