Improved Bimetallic Cobalt–Manganese Catalysts for Selective Oxidative Cleavage of Morpholine Derivatives

Catalytic methods for the site-selective scission of C­(sp³)–C­(sp³) bonds remain scarcely explored in contrast to the vast literature on C–C coupling. In view of this, we report a means of oxidative C–C single-bond cleavage in morpholines, made possible by a synergy between cobalt and manganese catalysts using air as a benign oxidant. We demonstrate the synthetic utility of this system with the late-stage oxidative cleavage of Linezolid.