[IrCl(cod)]2-catalyzed direct oxidative esterification of aldehydes with alcohols

[IrCl(cod)]₂ catalyzed the oxidative esterification of a variety of aldehydes with methanol as a solvent in combination with K₂CO₃ under mild conditions (rt, 12 h). The oxidative esterification reaction of aliphatic aldehydes also took place with olefinic alcohols as reagents in toluene under similar conditions.     

Indium-mediated one-pot, three-component synthesis of homoallyl alcohol esters without catalysts and dehydrants

Indium-mediated one-pot esterification reaction of acyl chlorides or anhydride by using in situ-prepared homoallyl alcohols from aromatic aldehydes and allyl bromide proceeded smoothly to afford the corresponding homoallyl alcohol esters in high yields within about 1 h, which provided a simple and efficient protocol for the simultaneous allylation and esterification of aldehydes without other catalysts and dehydrants.     

Sodium cyanide‐promoted copper‐catalysed aerobic oxidative synthesis of esters from aldehydes

A simple and efficient copper‐catalysed procedure for oxidative esterification of aldehydes with alcohols and phenols mediated by sodium cyanide, using air as a clean oxidant, is described. A variety of aromatic aldehydes and structurally different alcohols and phenols reacted efficiently, and the product esters were obtained in good to excellent yields under normal atmospheric and solvent‐free conditions.     

Ionic Liquid–Catalyzed Internal Redox Esterification Reaction

The internal redox esterification of α,β-unsaturated aldehydes and alcohols was carried out using different ionic liquids (ILs) as catalysts and reaction solvents. The basic ionic liquid, 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate ([bmim]OAc), exhibited the best activity for this reaction. The influences of the amount of ionic liquid catalyst and reaction time on yield of saturated ester have been investigated. The results showed that ionic liquid anions have a crucial effect on the redox esterification of α,β-unsaturated aldehydes and alcohols. The nucleophilic carbenes generated in situ from the ionic liquid cation were believed to be actual active species for this reactions.     

1D iron vanadate-reduced graphene oxide nanorod composite for efficient oxidative esterification of aldehydes

In this paper, we report a facile and one-pot hydrothermal synthesis of FeVO₄-rGO nanorod composite and its application as a heterogeneous catalyst in the oxidative esterification reaction of aldehydes using hydrogen peroxide oxidant. The nanomaterial is thoroughly characterized by different techniques, namely, XPS, FESEM, elemental mapping, XRD, Raman, HRTEM, etc. The as-prepared nanocatalyst shows good activity for the controlled base-free oxidative esterification of various aromatic aldehydes in alcohol solvents under refluxing conditions, achieving good yields of the desired esters. Furthermore, the substrate scope was explored over a wide array of substituted aromatic aldehydes with diverse electron-withdrawing and electron-donating groups in the phenyl ring. The presence of heterogeneous interfaces-induced properties in the nanorod composite results in synergistic effects to provide good catalytic performance. Thus, binary transition metal oxide-reduced graphene oxide-based nanocomposite as a nanocatalyst can open doors for efficient and sustainable esterification of aromatic aldehydes and aliphatic alcohols under oxidative conditions.     

Transition metal free oxidative esterification of alcohols with toluene

Using Bu₄NI as the catalyst and tert-butyl hydroperoxide as the oxidant, direct esterification of alcohols with toluene derivatives was achieved. Mechanistic investigations indicate that the alcohols are sequentially oxidized to aldehydes, carboxylic acids, and then to benzyl esters. Bu₄N⁺ functions as a phasetransfer reagent and iodide catalyzes the reaction.     

Nucleophilic carbene-catalysed oxidative esterification reactions

The first synthetically useful protocol of broad scope for the oxidative esterification of aldehydes with equimolar amounts of primary and secondary alcohols at room temperature catalysed by N-heterocyclic carbenes is reported.     

A facile direct conversion of aldehydes to esters and amides using acetone cyanohydrin

Aromatic aldehydes with electron-withdrawing groups undergo rapid reactions with a variety of alcohols and secondary amines to afford the corresponding esters and amides, respectively, in high yields, when treated with NaCN or acetone cyanohydrin and base under ambient reaction conditions. In case of α,β-unsaturated aldehydes, simultaneous reduction of the CC bond along with esterification occurred to produce the saturated esters in high yields.     

Copper-catalyzed oxidative esterification of alcohols with aldehydes activated by Lewis acids

An efficient oxidative esterification of aromatic and aliphatic aldehydes with simple alcohols was accomplished using catalytic amounts of Cu(ClO₄)₂·6H₂O and InBr₃ with tert-hydroperoxide as an oxidant.     

Copper-catalyzed methyl esterification of aromatic aldehydes and benzoic alcohols by TBHP as both oxidant and methyl source

A copper-catalyzed synthesis of methyl esters from aromatic aldehydes in the presence of tert-butyl hydrogen peroxide (TBHP) was developed via a radical reaction mechanism. TBHP acts not only as an efficient oxidant, but also as a green methyl source in such transformation. Moreover, this method could also be efficiently extended to the methyl esterification of benzylic alcohols.     

Nucleophilic carbene-catalyzed redox-esterification reaction of α-halo-α,β-unsaturated aldehyde

A nucleophilic carbene catalyzed redox esterification between α-halo-α,β-unsaturated aldehydes and various alcohols has been developed. Interestingly, the reaction provided α,β-unsaturated esters instead of the saturated α-halo substituted esters as the only product in good to high yield with excellent trans-selectivity, presumably via the umpolung-halo-elimination pathway.     

An efficient chemoselective strategy for the preparation of (E)-cinnamic esters from cinnamaldehydes using heterogeneous catalyst and DDQ

An efficient chemoselective protocol is developed for the synthesis of (E)-cinnamic esters from substituted cinnamaldehydes or cinnamyl alcohols using a combination of DDQ and heterogeneous catalyst under microwave irradiation. The method showed remarkable selectivity for cinnamaldehydes over aliphatic and aromatic aldehydes, which is a novel finding. The results demonstrate that the developed protocol can be a useful synthetic tool for chemoselective esterification in total synthesis of complex organic compounds.     

Direct Three‐Component Synthesis of α‐Cyano Acrylates Involving Cascade Knoevenagel Reaction and Esterification

A direct three‐component approach has been developed for the synthesis of α‐cyano acrylates starting from aldehydes, alcohols and α‐cyano acetamide by employing cyanuric chloride as an organocatalyst. A class of structurally diverse α‐cyano acrylates have been provided with good to excellent yields via the cascade transformation of Knoevenagel condensation and amide esterification.     

Iridium-catalyzed oxidative esterification reaction of aliphatic aldehydes and olefinic alcohols with precoordination of the double bond of alcohols to iridium

A novel iridium-catalyzed oxidative esterification reaction of aliphatic aldehydes and olefinic alcohols in toluene was found under mild conditions of [IrCl(cod)]₂ (5 mol %) in combination with K₂CO₃ (10 mol %) at rt.     

Direct organocatalytic asymmetric alpha-chlorination of aldehydes

The direct organocatalytic enantioselective alpha-chlorination of aldehydes has been developed. The reaction proceeds for a series of different aldehydes with NCS as the chlorine source using easily available catalysts such as l-proline amide and (2R,5R)-diphenylpyrrolidine. The alpha-chloro aldehydes are obtained in up to 99% yield and up to 95% ee. The synthetic utility of the enantioselective alpha-chlorination of aldehydes is demonstrated by transformation of the alpha-chloro aldehydes to the corresponding alpha-chloro alcohols (>90% yield) by standard reduction and further transformation to both a terminal epoxide and amino alcohol, both obtained without loss of optical purity. Oxidation of the alpha-chloro aldehydes followed by esterification gave optically active alpha-chloro esters without loss of optical purity. It is demonstrated that these optically active alpha-chloro esters can be converted into nonproteinogenic amino acids in overall high yields, maintaining the enantiomeric excess obtained in the catalytic enantioselective alpha-chlorination step.     

Pd/C‐Catalyzed Carbonylative Esterification of Aryl Halides with Alcohols by Using Oxiranes as CO Sources

A carbonylative esterification reaction between aryl bromides and alcohols, promoted by Pd/C and NaF in the presence of oxiranes, has been developed. In this process, oxiranes serve as sources of carbon monoxide by their conversion to aldehydes through a palladium‐promoted Meinwald rearrangement pathway. Intramolecular versions of this process serve as methods for the synthesis of lactones and phthalimides.     

Metal‐free aerobic oxidative esterification of aromatic aldehydes promoted by potassium fluoride (KF)

We investigated the oxidative esterification of aldehydes with alcohols/phenols to produce a range of esters. In this approach, we conducted the reaction under metal‐free conditions at room temperature. The reactions were promoted by potassium fluoride (KF) as the additive, resulting in the desired product in good to high yields. This procedure was found to be effective for the production of aryl esters, which are challenging in most of the available reports. It is vital for this procedure not to exclude air as the source of oxygen.     

Aza‐Crown Ether Complex Cation Ionic Liquids: Preparation and Applications in Organic Reactions

Aza‐crown ether complex cation ionic liquids (aCECILs) were devised, fabricated, and characterized by using NMR spectroscopy, MS, thermogravimetric differential thermal analysis (TG‐DTA), elemental analysis and physical properties. These new and room‐temperature ILs were utilized as catalysts in various organic reactions, such as the cycloaddition reaction of CO₂ to epoxides, esterification of acetic acid and alcohols, the condensation reaction of aniline and propylene carbonate, and Friedel–Crafts alkylation of indole with aldehydes were investigated carefully. In these reactions, the ionic liquid exhibited cooperative catalytic activity between the anion and cation. In addition, the aza‐[18‐C‐6HK][HSO₄]₂ was the best acidic catalyst in the reactions of esterification and Friedel–Crafts alkylation under mild reaction conditions.     

A facile and efficient [bmim]N3 catalyzed direct oxidative esterification of arylaldehydes with alcohols

Task-specific ionic liquid, [bmim]N₃ was used as an effective catalyst and reaction medium for the direct oxidative esterification of arylaldehydes with alcohols. The oxidative esterification reaction of a variety of arylaldehydes took place smoothly with some primary and secondary alcohols in [bmim]N₃. Satisfactory results were obtained with arylaldehydes containing electron withdrawing groups. Tertiary alcohols did not react under these conditions.     

Diastereoselective synthesis of polysubstituted tetrahydropyrans and thiacyclohexanes via indium trichloride mediated cyclizations.

Polysubstituted tetrahydropyrans and thiacyclohexanes were synthesized in high yields with excellent diastereoselectivities via indium trichloride mediated cyclizations between homoallyl alcohols and mercaptans with aldehydes. In the case of tetrahydropyran products, the stereochemistry of the product was found to be directly correlated with the geometry of the homoallyl alcohols; whereas the cross-cyclization of aldehydes with trans-homoallyl alcohols generated (up-down-up) 2,3,4-trisubstituted tetrahydropyran products exclusively, the reaction of aldehydes with cis-homoallyl alcohols provided mainly (up-up-up) 2,3,4-trisubstituted products. When a trisubstituted homoallyl alcohol was used, its cross-cyclization with aldehydes generated (up-down-up-down-up) pentasubstituted tetrahydropyran derivatives with simultaneous controlling of five stereogenic centers. On the other hand, a cyclization-decyclization equilibrium was observed in the formation of thiacyclohexanes. The reaction of both cis- and trans-homoallyl mercaptans with aldehydes provided the same major diastereomers.