Facile organocatalytic domino oxidation of diols to lactones by in situ-generated TetMe-IBX

The domino oxidation of diols to lactones is an important transformation, and catalytic protocols that allow this conversion smoothly are scarce. Capitalizing on the established reactivity of tetramethyl-IBX (TetMe-IBX) and its in situ generation in the presence of a co-oxidant, such as oxone, we have shown that a variety of diols can be converted to the corresponding lactones in respectable yields by employing the precursor of TetMe-IBX, namely, tetramethyl-o-iodobenzoic acid (TetMe-IA), as a catalyst in 5 mol % in the presence of 2 equiv of oxone.