A Mild and Selective Method for the Conversion of Nitroalkanes to Carbonyl Compounds

Abstract

Nef reaction is one of the most commonly used method for the conversion of nitroalkanes to carbnyl coacpunds. It was found that the salt of primary nitroparaffins are transformed in to aldehydes and those of secondary nitro coapounda into ketones, when they are treated with aqueous acid.¹ ernate procedures for effecting this transformation have been reported.² cedures appeared in the literature after the work of Sehecter and Williams^2a using potassium penaanganate as the axidant. Recently, Kornblum and Steliou reported useful modif icationa of the original permanganate proeedtlre.^2a A number of modifications and alt In fact most of the modified pro-³ Although the yield of the carbony1 compounds is generally high i n simple nitroalkanes Using the modi-fied permanganate procedures, the yield drops down considerably in the case of substrates containing Other oxidizable functional groups like carbon-carbon double bonds and hydroxyl groups. Hence a need still exists for the development of a methodology which is mild and more selective.