Copper(I)-Catalyzed Oxidation of Alkenes Using Molecular Oxygen and Hydroxylamines: Synthesis and Reactivity of α-Oxygenated Ketones

Org Lett. 2015 Jun 5;17(11):2704-7. doi: 10.1021/acs.orglett.5b01120. Epub 2015 May 8.

Abstract

The copper(I)-catalyzed oxidation of alkenes with molecular oxygen and N-hydroxyphthalimide (NHPI) or N-hydroxybenzotriazole (HOBt) provided α-oxygenated ketones. The reaction proceeded under a balloon of O2 at room temperature to furnish the dioxygenated products in 50-90% yield. These compounds, particularly the HOBt derivatives, can be further functionalized with phosphorus, nitrogen, and sulfur nucleophiles to give synthetically useful products.