Selective oxidation of vinylbenzenes & acyloins in the presence of silver catalyst using molecular oxygen as terminal oxidant

Selective oxidation of styrene to benzaldehyde continues to be a quest for synthetic chemists. A number of transition metal based, metal free, nanocomposite-based catalysts have been developed for this transformation. We hereby report the oxidation of styrene into corresponding benzaldehydes using molecular oxygen as oxidant in the presence of catalytic amount of Ag2O. The reaction proceeded with a wellknown oxidation of styrene-to-styrene oxide giving intermediates which lead to decarboxylative generation of aldehydes. One such intermediate was hydroxyketone. In view of the formation of hydroxyketone intermediate, we explored the oxidative dehomologation of a-hydroxy ketone via decarboxylation of 2-oxo-2-phenylacetic acid into benzoic acid using the same strategy. Both the reactions exhibited high functional group tolerance and a broad substrate scope.(c) 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.