Biomimetic Catalytic Remote Desaturation of Aliphatic Alcohols

Abstract

Herein we present photoinduced cobaloxime-catalyzed selective remote desaturation of aliphatic alcohols. Thistransformation, which proceeds efficiently at room temperature, facilitates the synthesis of valuable cyclic and acyclic allylic andhomoallylic alcohols from readily available saturated aliphatic alcohols. Remarkably, this method obviates the need for externaloxidants, noble metal catalysts, and phosphine ligands.