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RSC Advances
substituted N-alkyl pyridinium salts exhibited a better catalytic
activity. Especially with 1-benzyl-4-N,N-dimethylaminopyr-
idinium bromide being used as the catalyst, different methyl
aromatics were successfully oxidized in acetonitrile. The re-
ported results offered a simple organocatalytic system for the
metal-free oxidation of methyl aromatics. Intensive study on the
role of N-alkyl pyridinium salts and its application for the
catalytic oxidation of other substrate are underway.
Conflicts of interest
There are no conicts of interest to declare.
Acknowledgements
This study was nancially supported by the National Natural
Science Foundation of China (21872075 and 21873052) and by
K. C. Wang Magna Fund in Ningbo University.
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A possible reaction mechanism was proposed for the
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