Powell AB, Stahl SS * University of Wisconsin–Madison, USA
Aerobic Oxidation of Diverse Primary Alcohols to Methyl Esters with a Readily Accessible Heterogeneous Pd/Bi/Te Catalyst.
Org. Lett. 2013;
15: 5072-5075
Key words
palladium on activated charcoal - bismuth - tellurium - aerobic oxidative esterification - primary alcohols
Significance
Palladium on activated charcoal (Pd/C, 5 wt%, purchased from Sigma-Aldrich) in combination with Bi(NO3)3·5H2O and Te catalyzed the aerobic oxidative esterification of primary alcohols to give the corresponding methyl esters in 6–100% yield (32 examples, eq. 1).
Comment
In the absence of Bi(NO3)3·5H2O and Te, the oxidative esterification of 1-octanol gave methyl octanoate in 16% yield. The catalytic activity of palladium on activated charcoal was superior to that of palladium on carbon and alumina (purchased from Sigma-Aldrich).
