Cobalt phthalocyanine catalyzed aerobic oxidation of secondary alcohols: an efficient and simple synthesis of ketones

A variety of activated and non-activated secondary alcohols have been efficiently oxidized to their corresponding ketones in excellent yields with molecular oxygen using cobalt phthalocyanine as catalyst in the presence of powdered potassium hydroxide.     

Na-promoted aerobic oxidation of alcohols to ketones

Aerobic oxidation of a number of diaryl and arylalkyl carbinols to ketones was promoted by Na in THF at room temperature with up to 99% yield. This new oxidation method is also selective with good efficiency for the oxidation of benzylic secondary alcohols but not for a primary alcohol or nonbenzylic secondary alcohols. Under nitrogen, a catalytic amount of Ni or transition metal halides such as CoCl₃, FeCl₃, and NiCl₃ in combination with Na was also found to conduct a dehydrogenation of a secondary alcohol to the corresponding ketone in high yield at room temperature.     

An effective enantioselective approach to the securinega alkaloids: total synthesis of (-)-norsecurinine

[reaction: see text] A highly versatile approach to the enantioselective synthesis of securinega alkaloids is presented. Crucial steps are a palladium-catalyzed enantioselective imide alkylation, a vinylogous Mannich reaction, and a ring-closing metathesis process. Through this strategy, the synthesis of (-)-norsecurinine has been accomplished in nine steps and 11% overall yield.     

Formal enantioselective total synthesis of schulzeines A-C via Pd-catalyzed intramolecular asymmetric allylic amination

Formal enantioselective total synthesis of schulzeines A-C was accomplished, featuring highly efficient Pd-catalyzed asymmetric allylic amination using novel diphosphonite ligands (BOPs) to provide 1-vinyltetrahydroisoquinoline key intermediates, as well as Ru-catalyzed ring-closing metathesis reaction to construct the key tricyclic cores in enantiopure form with correct absolute configurations.     

Biomimetic aerobic oxidation of amino alcohols to lactams

The right path: N-Protected amino alcohols undergo aerobic and biomimetic oxidation to the corresponding lactams in the presence of a ruthenium catalyst and a combination of electron-transfer mediators under air. The reaction was used for the synthesis of five-, six-, and seven-, membered lactams and showed good tolerance to a number of N-protecting groups.     

Zinc-catalyzed aerobic oxidation of benzoins and its extension to enantioselective oxidation

Zn(II)-DABCO complex is used as an efficient catalyst for the aerobic oxidation of benzoins to benzils in the presence of molecular oxygen. Usage of chiral zinc complex as catalyst resulted in enantioselective oxidative kinetic resolution of racemic benzoin to yield enantiomerically enriched benzoins.     

Highly enantioselective synthesis of beta-amino alcohols

[reaction: see text] N,N-Dialkyl-beta-amino alcohols derived from alpha-amino acids can be rearranged enantiospecifically by using TFAA/Et3N/NaOH to give 1,2-amino alcohols with enantiomeric excess up to 99%.     

Highly enantioselective aminoacylase-catalyzed transesterification of secondary alcohols

The aminoacylase (N-acyl-l-amino acid amidohydrolase; E.C. 3.5.1.14) from Aspergillus melleus, a readily available inexpensive enzyme, catalyzes the transesterification of a wide range of chiral secondary arylalkanols with essentially absolute stereoselectivity (E>500). Moreover, the productivities obtained with 1-phenylethanol, 1-phenylpropanol, 1-(1-naphthyl)ethanol and 1-(2-naphthyl)ethanol were substantially higher than those in the corresponding lipase-catalyzed transesterifications.     

HKUST-1/ABNO-catalyzed aerobic oxidation of secondary benzyl alcohols at room temperature

Efficient heterogeneous Cu-catalyzed aerobic oxidation of benzyl alcohols was discolsed. The combination of HKUST-1 and ABNO exhibited enhanced catalytic activity compare to the previous HKUST-1/TEMPO system in aerobic oxidation of benzyl alcohols. It was observed that the present catalyst was intrinsically heterogeneous and reusable.     

Catalytic enantioselective synthesis of secondary alcohols using C2-symmetric diamino diol ligands

A new class of diamino diols was evaluated as catalytic ligands in the enantioselective borane reduction of aromatic ketones and the enantioselective ethylation of arylaldehydes with diethylzinc. By variation of the substitution pattern on the ketone, e.e.s of up to 94% could be obtained by in situ borane reduction using 0.025 equiv. of the ligand at 35°C in THF. N,N,N′,N′-Tetramethyldiamino diol and N,N′-dialkyl diamino diol were used as promoters for the enantioselective addition of diethylzinc reagent to the arylaldehyde, where use of 0.1 equiv. of N,N,N′,N′-tetramethyl diamino diol as catalyst in the addition of diethylzinc to arylaldehyde achieved e.e.s of up to 98%.     

Oxovanadium complex-catalyzed aerobic oxidation of propargylic alcohols

A catalytic system consisting of vanadium oxyacetylacetonate [VO(acac)(2)] and 3 A molecular sieves (MS3A) in acetonitrile works effectively for the aerobic oxidation of propargylic alcohols [R(1)CH(OH)Ctbd1;CR(2)] to the corresponding carbonyl compounds under an atmospheric pressure of molecular oxygen. Although the reactivity of alpha-acetylenic alkanols (R(1) = alkyl) is lower compared to that of the alcohols of R(1) = aryl, alkenyl, and alkynyl, the use of VO(hfac)(2) as a catalyst and the addition of hexafluoroacetylacetone improve the product yield in these cases. A catalytic cycle involving a vanadium(V) alcoholate species and beta-hydrogen elimination from it has been proposed for this oxidation.     

Mechanistic investigations of the iridium(III)-catalyzed aerobic oxidation of primary and secondary alcohols

The commercially available catalysts [(Cp*IrCl2)2] is employed with O2 as the terminal oxidant in the presence of catalytic amounts of Et3N for the aerobic oxidation of primary and secondary alcohols. A new mechanism for the Ir-catalyzed aerobic oxidation is also presented that suggests that the transition metal maintains its +3 oxidation state throughout the entire catalytic cycle.     

Highly enantioselective synthesis of beta-amino alcohols: a catalytic version

Highly enantioselective rearrangement of beta-amino alcohols was realized by using a catalytic amount of trifluoroacetic anhydride.     

Novel polyaniline-supported molybdenum-catalyzed aerobic oxidation of alcohols to aldehydes and ketones

[reaction: see text] Oxidation of alcohols to aldehydes and ketones has been studied in high yields using molecular oxygen and a catalytic amount of 1 in toluene under stirring (ca. 100 degrees C). The reactions of primary alcohols are faster compared to secondary alcohols and the catalyst 1 can be recycled without loss of activity.     

Non-nanogold catalyzed aerobic oxidation of secondary amines to imines

Bulk gold powder (approximately 10(3) nm particle size) is a highly active catalyst for the oxidative dehydrogenation of secondary amines to imines under the mild conditions of 1 atm O2 and 60-100 degrees C.