Manganese triacetate as an efficient catalyst for bisperoxidation of styrenes.

A method was developed for the bisperoxidation of styrenes with tert-butyl hydroperoxide in the presence of a catalytic amount of manganese(III) acetate. It was shown that compounds of manganese in oxidation states 2, 4, and 7 also catalyze this reaction. The target [1,2-bis(tert-butylperoxy)ethyl]arenes were synthesized in yields from 46 to 75%.