Studies on Iron-Catalyzed Aerobic Oxidation of Benzylic Alcohols to Carboxylic Acids

A comprehensive study on aerobic oxidation of benzylic alcohols­ to carboxylic acids with a catalytic amount each of Fe(NO3)3·9H2O, TEMPO, and KCl is conducted. Various synthetically useful functional groups are well tolerated in the reaction. Distinct electronic and steric effects are observed in the reaction: electron-withdrawing groups accelerate the reaction while electron-donating groups make the reaction slower, and ortho-substituted substrates react slower than meta-substituted substrates. Several large-scale reactions (100 mmol) are conducted using a slow air flow of 30 mL/min to demonstrate the practicality of this method in an academic laboratory.