Facile access to versatile functional groups from alcohol by single multifunctional reusable catalyst

• We report multistep tandem oxidation process by Cs promoted mesoporous manganese oxides.
• Seven different functional groups (imine, imidazole, cyanide, amide, lactone, ester and olefin) are evolved from a single substrate (alcohol).
• A unique multiple esterification reaction from a single aliphatic alcohol is reported.
• The observed catalysis is truly heterogeneous and the catalyst can be reused without any loss of catalytic performance.
• The developed one pot protocol is versatile, cost effective, and environmentally benign.

Tandem oxidation processes enabling one-pot multistep reactions received great attention as an efficient synthetic methodology for construction of complex molecules from simple substrates by a single operation. We report here tandem oxidative transformations of seven different functional groups (imine, imidazole, cyanide, amide, lactone, ester and olefin) from a single substrate (alcohol) by a single cesium promoted mesoporous manganese oxide catalyst (meso Cs/MnOx). High conversions were obtained with a broad range of substrates including aliphatic long chain alcohols. The catalyst can be reused without any loss of catalytic activity. We also demonstrated a unique multiple esterification reaction from a single aliphatic alcohol under aerobic atmospheric conditions catalyzed by meso Cs/MnOx.

Figure optionsDownload high-quality image (125 K)Download as PowerPoint slide