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action conditions for various alcohols, we found that tailor-
made combinations of the AZADO-type nitroxyl radical, copper
salt, and solution concentration afforded highly efficient aero-
bic oxidation of the alcohol substrates. The efficient oxidation
of highly sterically hindered secondary alcohols was achieved
by employing the least-hindered nitroxyl radical, Nor-AZADO.
Alcohols that contained coordinative groups, which may at-
tenuate the activity of the copper catalysis, were efficiently oxi-
dized by CuCl instead of CuOTf under dilute conditions. These
findings successfully expanded the substrate scope of the
aerobic oxidation reaction of alcohols by using AZADO/copper
catalysis: The optimized conditions efficiently oxidized various
alcohols, including highly hindered and heteroatom-rich sub-
strates, under mild conditions with smaller amounts of cata-
lysts. In addition, a deactivation pathway of AZADO was identi-
fied. Notably, all of the catalysts employed herein, even Nor-
AZADO and 1-Me-AZADO, are currently commercially available.
This study should make the aerobic oxidation of alcohols using
nitroxyl-radical/copper catalysis a practical “method of choice”.
We expect that this reaction will be employed as a powerful
tool for the synthesis of natural products and fine chemicals.
General Procedure for Aerobic Alcohol Oxidation by Using
AZADO/Copper Catalysis (Method B)
CuCl (10.0x mmol, x mol%) was added to a solution of the alcohol
(1.00 mmol), Nor-AZADO (1.38 mg, 10.0 mmol), bpy (1.56 mg,
1
0.0 mmol), and DMAP (2.44 mg, 20.0 mmol) in MeCN (5.0 mL) at RT.
The mixture was stirred in air at RT until the alcohol was no longer
detectable (TLC), and the reaction was quenched with a saturated
aqueous solution of NaHCO (3.0 mL) and extracted with CH Cl .
3
2
2
The organic layer was washed with brine, dried over MgSO , and
4
concentrated under reduced pressure. The crude product was puri-
fied by flash column chromatography (Et O/n-hexane) to afford the
2
corresponding carbonyl compound.
1
2
-(4-Ethoxyphenyl)-2-methylpropanal (2c): Colorless oil; H NMR
(
400 MHz, CDCl ): d=9.44 (s, 1H), 7.17 (dd, J=6.8, 2.4 Hz, 2H), 6.89
3
(
1
d, J=6.8, 2.4 Hz, 2H), 4.02 (q, J=7.2 Hz, 2H), 1.43 (s, 6H),
.40 ppm (t, J=7.2 Hz, 3H); C NMR (100 MHz, CDCl ): d=202.1,
3
13
158.0, 132.7, 127.7, 114.7, 63.3, 49.6, 22.4, 14.7 ppm; IR (neat): n˜ =
À1
+
1724 cm ; MS (EI): m/z 192 [M] , 163 (100%); HRMS (EI): m/z calcd
+
for C H O : 192.1150 [M] ; found: 192.1130.
12 16
2
Reaction of AZADO with Aldehyde 2r Under Copper-Catalyzed
Aerobic Oxidation Conditions
CuOTf·0.5benzene (8.00 mg, 31.8 mmol) was added to a solution of
aldehyde 2r (42.5 mg, 0.312 mmol), AZADO (47.7 mg, 0.313 mmol),
bpy (2.74 mg, 17.5 mmol), and NMI (2.69 mg, 32.8 mmol) in MeCN
(
1.5 mL) at RT. After stirring for 5 min in air, a saturated aqueous so-
Experimental Section
lution of NaHCO was added and the mixture was extracted with
3
CH Cl . The organic layer was washed with brine, dried over
2
2
General
MgSO , and concentrated under reduced pressure to give the
4
The reactions were monitored by thin-layer chromatography (TLC)
on Merck Silica Gel 60 F254 TLC plates (0.25 mm), or by gas chroma-
tography (GC) on an Agilent 7890A GC system with an Agilent
J&W HP-5 GC column (30 m, 0.32 mm, 0.25 mm). Column chroma-
tography was performed on Kanto Silica Gel 60 N (spherical, neu-
tral, particle size: 0.063–0.210 mm) or Kanto Silica Gel 60 N (spheri-
crude product. The yield of O-acylhydroxylamine 3 was determined
to be 45% by H NMR analysis of the crude product by using 1,3,5-
trimethoxybenzene as an internal standard. Compound 3 was par-
1
tially isolated by flash column chromatography on silica gel
1
(EtOAc/n-hexane, 1:8 v/v) as a yellow oil. H NMR (400 MHz, CDCl ):
3
d=7.30–7.19 (m, 5H), 3.37 (s, 2H), 2.99 (t, J=7.8 Hz, 2H), 2.65 (t,
J=7.8 Hz, 2H), 2.21–2.15 (m, 4H), 1.93–1.90 (m, 2H), 1.83–1.77 (m,
1
cal, neutral, particle size: 0.040–0.050 mm). H NMR spectra were
13
recorded on a JEOL JNM-AL400 (400 MHz) spectrometer. Chemical
shifts are reported relative to tetramethylsilane (d=0.00 ppm).
Multiplicities are described as follows: s singlet, d doublet, t triplet,
4H), 1.43–1.35 ppm (m, 2H); C NMR (100 MHz, CDCl ): d=171.3,
3
140.4, 128.5, 128.3, 126.3, 55.7, 36.6, 36.2, 35.0, 31.2, 30.3, 26.2,
À1
+
25.8 ppm; IR (neat): n˜ =1750 cm ; MS (EI): m/z 285 [M] , 153
13
+
q quartet, m multiplet, br broad. C NMR spectra were recorded
on a JEOL JNM-AL400 (100 MHz) spectrometer. Chemical shifts are
(100%); HRMS (EI): m/z calcd for C H NO : 285.1729 [M] ; found:
18
23
2
285.1736.
1
3
reported relative to CDCl (d=77.0 ppm). IR spectra were record-
3
ed on a JASCO FTIR-410 Fourier-transform infrared spectrophotom-
eter. Low-resolution mass spectra were recorded on a JEOL JMS- Acknowledgements
DX303 mass spectrometer. High-resolution mass spectra were re-
corded on a JEOL JMS-700 mass spectrometer.
This work was supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Re-
search on Innovative Areas “Advanced Molecular Transforma-
tions by Organocatalysts” from MEXT, Japan, by the JSPS Asian
Core Program on Cutting-Edge Organic Chemistry in Asia, by
a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B) (24390001), and by
a Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B) (25860001).
General Procedure for Aerobic Alcohol Oxidation by Using
AZADO/Copper Catalysis (Method A)
CuOTf·0.5benzene (2.52 mg, 10.0 mmol) was added to a solution of
the alcohol (1.00 mmol), Nor-AZADO (1.38 mg, 10.0 mmol), bpy
Keywords: alcohols · copper
oxidation · radicals
· homogeneous catalysis ·
(
1.56 mg, 10.0 mmol), and DMAP (2.44 mg, 20.0 mmol) in MeCN
(
1.0 mL) at RT. The mixture was stirred in air at RT until the alcohol
was no longer detectable (TLC), and the reaction was quenched
[
1] a) I. W. C. E. Arends, R. A. Sheldon in Modern Oxidation Methods, 2nd ed.
Ed.: J.-E. Bꢁckvall), Wiley-VCH, Weinheim, 2010, pp. 147–185; b) G.
Tojo, M. Fernꢂndez, Oxidation of Alcohols to Aldehydes and Ketones,
Springer, New York, 2006.
with a saturated aqueous solution of NaHCO (3.0 mL) and extract-
3
(
ed with CH Cl . The organic layer was washed with brine, dried
2
2
over MgSO , and concentrated under reduced pressure. The crude
4
product was purified by flash column chromatography (Et O/n-
hexane) to afford the corresponding carbonyl compound.
2
Chem. Asian J. 2015, 00, 0 – 0
5
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