Conversion of Olefins into Ketones by an Iron-Catalyzed Wacker-type Oxidation Using Oxygen as the Sole Oxidant.

We describe a mild and operationally simple procedure for the oxidation of olefins into ketones. The reaction is catalyzed by the hexadecafluorinated iron-phthalocyanine complex FePcF16 with stoichiometric amounts of triethylsilane as an additive under oxygen atmosphere to give ketones in good to high yields with excellent chemoselectivity and functional group tolerance. Ketone formation proceeds in up to 95 % yield and with 100 % regioselectivity while the corresponding alcohols were observed as side products.