Synergistic H4NI-AcOH Catalyzed Oxidation of the Csp(3)-H Bonds of Benzylpyridines with Molecular Oxygen.

The oxidation of benzylpyridines forming benzoylpyridines was achieved based on a synergistic H4NI-AcOH catalyst and molecular oxygen in high yield under solvent-free conditions. This is the first nonmetallic catalytic system for this oxidation transformation using molecular oxygen as the oxidant. The catalytic system has a wide scope of substrates and excellent chemoselectivity, and this procedure can also be scaled up. The study of a preliminary reaction mechanism demonstrated that the oxidation of the Csp(3)-H bonds of benzylpyridines was promoted by the pyridinium salts formed by AcOH and benzylpyridines. The synergistic effect of H4NI-AcOH was also demonstrated by control experiments.