Asymmetric Oxidation of Alcohols and Phenol Derivatives with Air as Oxidant - Transition Metal Catalysis in Aerobic Alcohol Oxidation - page 231

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CHAPTER 9
Asymmetric Oxidation of
Alcohols and Phenol
Derivatives with Air as Oxidant

TAKUYA OGUMA a,b AND TSUTOMU KATSUKI* b,c,d

a Department of Chemistry, Graduate School of Science, Kyushu University,
Hakozaki, Higashi-ku, Fukuoka, 812-8581, Japan; b International Institute
for Carbon-Neutral Energy Research (I2CNER), Kyushu University,
Hakozaki, Higashi-ku, Fukuoka, 812-8581, Japan; c Institute for Advanced
Study, Kyushu University, Hakozaki, Higashi-ku, Fukuoka, 812-8581,
Japan; d ACT-C, JST, Hakozaki, Higashi-ku, Fukuoka 812-8581, Japan
*Email: [e-mail]

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9.1 Introduction
Alcohol, phenol, and their derivatives are substructures found in many
natural products and pharmaceuticals and also serve as versatile building
blocks. Thus, the development of ecient methods for their synthesis and
transformation has been an important objective in organic synthesis. Most
alcohols and phenols are readily available and undergo oxidation to give
various functional groups, and therefore, their asymmetric oxidation re-
actions are valuable tools for the enantioenriched synthesis of functiona-
lized molecules. The eciency of oxidation reactions largely depends on the
oxidant used. Accordingly, many oxidants have been introduced to increase
the eciency of the oxidative conversions. Of the available oxidants, dioxy-
gen is ideal because of its high atom e ciency and low environmental
burden. 1 Moreover, dioxygen is ubiquitous and abundant in air, comprising