Tetra-n-butylammonium Bromide: A Simple but Efficient Organocatalyst for Alcohol Oxidation under Mild Conditions

A simple but efficient organocatalytic system with 5mol% tetra-n-butylammonium bromide (TBAB) as the catalyst has been identified for alcohol oxidation for the first time. This organocatalytic system is compatible with a broad range of benzylic/allylic alcohols with various catalytically reactive groups. Besides, it shows excellent selectivity for secondary benzylic alcohols over aliphatic alcohols, and good selectivity over the primary benzylic alcohol site in 4-(1-hydroxyethyl)benzyl alcohol. Thus, the features of simplicity, high efficiency, selectivity and mildness of reaction conditions associated with this TBAB organocatalytic system suggest its potential for widespread use in synthetic chemistry.