Direct Oxidation of N‐Benzylamides to Aldehydes or Ketones by N‐Bromosuccinimide

Abstract

A simple and efficient approach for the one‐pot transformation of N‐benzylamides to aldehydes or ketones under mild conditions was reported. All the 20 substrates gave moderate to excellent oxidative yields under the optimized conditions. Our study may provide a new approach for the one‐pot synthesis of aldehydes or ketones from the corresponding amides.

Keywords:

• Aldehyde
• amide
• N‐bromosuccinimide
• ketone
• oxidation

Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful for the financial support from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (KSCX2‐YW‐R‐27) and seed funding from the Guangzhou Institute of Biomedicine and Health (GIBH). Prof. Dawei Ma from the Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry (CAS) is gratefully acknowledged for the helpful discussions and advice.