Abstract
Experimental data on the chemistry of a new class of highly effective oxidation reagents, dioxiranes, are summarised. The main methods used to generate dioxiranes and reactions in which dioxiranes have been proposed as intermediates are considered. The full notion about an important property of dioxiranes, i.e. the ability to oxidise rapidly, selectively and under mild conditions various classes of organic compounds (alkanes, alkenes, compounds containing heteroatoms, organometallic substrates, etc.) is given. Various aspects and mechanisms of these reactions are discussed. The attention is focused on the analysis of mechanisms of dioxirane decomposition in the absence of oxidisable substrates. One of the most attractive aspects of the dioxirane chemistry, chemiluminescence, is considered (the mechanisms of the generation of excited products during both thermal and catalytic decomposition and upon photochemical activation are discussed). The bibliography includes 401 references.