The selective oxidation of primary and secondary alcohols to the corresponding aldehydes and ketones, respectively, is a pivotal reaction in organic synthesis. Traditionally, such oxidation reactions have been performed with stoichiometric inorganic oxidants, represented by CrO3, KMnO4, MnO2, and SeO2. However, these oxidation methods have serious drawbacks such as the cost and the production of environmental hazardous/toxic byproducts. From both economic and environmental viewpoints, there is an urgent demand for greener, more atom efficient methods that employ clean oxidant such as O2 and air. Oxygen is a readily available oxidant, which produces only water as a byproduct. Accordingly, a number of transition metal complex-catalyzed aerobic processes, based on Ru, Pd, Cu complexes, have been developed in the last decade.
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