Atmospheric oxygen mediated oxidation coupling of primary and secondary alcohols: synthesis of pyrazolo[1,5-a]pyrimidines

Abstract

An atmospheric oxygen-mediated oxidative coupling of primary and secondary alcohols for the synthesis of nitrogen-containing heterocycles has been developed. This method utilizes atmospheric oxygen as the sole, environmentally friendly oxidant to convert a variety of alkyl and aromatic primary alcohols into aldehyde equivalents, avoiding over-oxidation to carboxylic acids. Notably, these mild oxidation conditions are compatible with both primary and secondary alkyl alcohols as substrates.