Aerobic oxidation of primary alcohols under mild aqueous conditions promoted by a dinuclear copper(II) complex

A sugar-discriminating dinuclear copper(II) complex was investigated for its ability to promote aerobic oxidation of primary benzylic alcohols in the presence of TEMPO and base. The transformation of benzyl alcohol to benzaldehyde was chosen as exploratory model reaction. The constitution of the catalytically active species was deducted from isothermal titration calorimetry and kinetic experiments, and the catalytic reaction was characterized both in aqueous organic and aqueous solution. The dinuclear complex is found to selectively oxidize primary over secondary alcohols in aqueous solution at ambient temperature with a turnover rate of 9 h−1. A mechanism for the catalytic cycle is proposed.