Unexpected copper-catalyzed aerobic oxidative cleavage of C(sp3)-C(sp3) bond of glycol ethers.
An unexpected Cu-catalyzed oxidative cleavage of the C(sp(3))-C(sp(3)) bond in glycol ethers by using air or molecular oxygen as the terminal stoichiometric oxidant is demonstrated. As a result, the corresponding α-acyloxy ethers and formates of 1,2-ethanediol are formed by direct coupling of carboxylic acids and aldehydes with glycol ethers under the reaction conditions. This method represents the first example of Cu-catalyzed aerobic cleavage of saturated C-C bond in ethers.
State Key Laboratory of Applied Organic Chemistry, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou Gansu 730000, PR China. liuzhq@lzu.edu.cn
Zhong-Quan
ZQ
Liu
Lixing
L
Zhao
Xiaojie
X
Shang
Zili
Z
Cui