Silica chloride: An efficient promoter for oxidation of arylboronic acids to phenols

This work reports simple, highly efficient protocol for the oxidation of arylboronic acids. Various arylboronic acids were selectively and completely converted into their corresponding oxidized phenols using H₂O₂ as an oxidant in presence of catalytic amount of silica chloride. The results show that silica chloride is a suitable and efficient promoter for the oxidation of arylboronic acids. Heterogeneous catalyst, mild reaction conditions, easy availability of the reagent, easy work-up, excellent yield of corresponding phenols, short reaction time and broad substrate scope makes this protocol attractive and a practical alternative to the existing methods.