Methylene chain ruler for evaluating the regioselectivity of a substrate-recognising oxidation catalyst.

Regioselective C-H oxidation of aliphatic molecules with synthetic catalysts is challenging. We incorporated substrate-recognition sites into a ruthenium porphyrin-heteroaromatic N-oxide catalytic system in order to characterise its regioselectivity for the oxidation of alkanes. This substrate-recognition catalytic reaction exhibits high regioselectivity and high reaction efficiency.