Visible-light-induced selective aerobic oxidation of sp3 C–H bonds catalyzed by a heterogeneous AgI/BiVO4 catalyst

Abstract

An efficient oxidation of sp³ C–H bonds to esters and ketones has been developed using AgI/BiVO₄ as the photocatalyst and O₂ as the oxidant in water. Various substrates can be transformed into the desired esters and ketones in moderate to good yields. The synthetic utility of this approach has been demonstrated by gram-level experiments and consecutive oxidation experiments. A plausible mechanism has been proposed.