Efficient and Selective Al-Catalyzed Alcohol Oxidation via Oppenauer Chemistry

摘要

The selective oxidation of alcohols to their corresponding carbonyls is one of the most widely employed transformations in organic synthesis.Although numerous such protocols are available,many employ stoichiometric heavy metal complexes or suffer from selectivity issues when H_2O_2 or NaOCl are used as oxidants.Organic oxidants,such as Swern and Dess-Martin reagents,are more selective but can be either difficult to handle or hazardous.While selective catalytic oxidation methodologies have recently become available,they draw on expensive metal complexes and/or elevated temperatures,issues that can be circumvented with the Oppenauer (O) oxidation.Along with the benefits of being highly chemoselective,the O oxidation employs easily handled organic-based oxidants and aluminum,an inexpensive and innocuous metal,as key reactants.