Selective oxidation of alkenes to carbonyls under mild conditions

Abstract

Herein, a practical and sustainable method for the synthesis of aldehydes, ketones, and carboxylic acids from an inexpensive olefinic feedstock is described. This transformation features very sustainable and mild conditions and utilizes commercially available and inexpensive tetrahydrofuran as the additive, molecular oxygen as the sole oxidant and water as the solvent. A wide range of substituted alkenes were found to be compatible, providing the corresponding carbonyl compounds in moderate-to-good yields. The control experiments demonstrated that a radical mechanism is responsible for the oxidation reaction.