One-Pot Direct Oxidation of Primary Amines to Carboxylic Acids through Tandem ortho-Naphthoquinone-Catalyzed and TBHP-Promoted Oxidation Sequence

Biomimetic oxidation of primary amines to carboxylic acids has been developed where the copper-containing amine oxidase (CuAO)-like o-NQ-catalyzed aerobic oxidation was combined with the aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH)-like TBHP-mediated imine oxidation protocol. Notably, the current tandem oxidation strategy provides a new mechanistic insight into the imine intermediate and the seemingly simple TBHP-mediated oxidation pathways of imines. The developed metal-free amine oxidation protocol allows the use of molecular oxygen and TBHP, safe forms of oxidant that may appeal to the industrial application.