The construction of C-O bonds through C-H bond functionalization remains fundamentally challenging. Here, a practical chlorine radical-mediated aerobic oxidation of alkylarenes to carbonyls was developed. This protocol employed commercially available HCl as a hydrogen atom transfer (HAT) reagent and air as a sustainable oxidant. In addition, this process exhibited excellent functional group tolerance and a broad substrate scope without the requirement for external metal and oxidants. The mechanistic hypothesis was supported by radical trapping, 18 O labeling, and control experiments.
Keywords: aerobic oxidation; alkylarenes; carbonyls; metal-free; photochemistry.
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