Rapid and selective catalytic oxidation of secondary alcohols at room temperature by using (N-heterocyclic carbene)-ni(0) systems

Christophe Berini; Ole H Winkelmann; Jennifer Otten; David A Vicic; Oscar Navarro

doi:10.1002/chem.201000220

Rapid and selective catalytic oxidation of secondary alcohols at room temperature by using (N-heterocyclic carbene)-ni(0) systems

Chemistry. 2010 Jun 18;16(23):6857-60. doi: 10.1002/chem.201000220.

Authors

Christophe Berini¹, Ole H Winkelmann, Jennifer Otten, David A Vicic, Oscar Navarro

Affiliation

¹ Department of Chemistry, University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2545 McCarthy Mall, Honolulu, HI 96825, USA.

PMID: 20455219
DOI: 10.1002/chem.201000220

Abstract

The selective, anaerobic catalytic oxidation of secondary alcohols at room temperature by using an in situ (N-heterocyclic carbene)-Ni(0) system is presented. The use of non-anhydrous, non-degassed 2,4-dichlorotoluene as both the oxidant and the solvent allows for very short reaction times and very high yields. In addition, a well-defined (N-heterocyclic carbene)-Ni(0) complex was synthesized and applied to these oxidation reactions.