Recent advances in the copper-catalyzed aerobic C_sp³–H oxidation strategy

The interplay between copper catalysts and molecular oxygen provides the opportunity to control the promiscuous catalytic behaviors in aerobic C_sp³–H bond oxidations without using stoichiometric amounts of oxidants. This mini-review aims to cover the Cu-catalyzed aerobic benzylic and α-carbonyl C_sp³–H oxidations and that of the carbon next to an amine group in the past five years. The development of tandem multicomponent reactions employing aerobic C_sp³–H bond oxidations will be discussed to highlight the controlled catalyst behaviors and the catalyst interactions between multiple reaction components.