Aerobic alcohol oxidation using a PdCl2/N,N-dimethylacetamide catalyst system under mild conditions

A new and simple PdCl2/DMA catalytic system for the alcohol oxidation has been developed using molecular oxygen as the sole oxidant under mild conditions. The catalytic system could be reused for three runs without significant loss of catalytic activity. A variety of active and non-active alcohols were oxidized to their corresponding carbonyl compounds in good to excellent yields. Gas-uptake kinetics for the catalytic system was also investigated. The ca. 1:1 molar ratio of O2 uptake to product yield is observed, suggesting the in situ formation of H2O2.