posted on 1997-09-19, 00:00authored byWuyi Wang, Tiechao Li, Giorgio Attardo
Oxidation of bisbenzyl ethers was studied using
2,3-dichloro-5,6-dicyanobenzoquinone (DDQ).
Compared to other benzylic oxidations such as Kornblum type
reaction of benzyl bromides or MnO2
oxidation of benzyl alcohols, DDQ oxidation offered advantages of being
mild and highly selective
to provide monoaldehyde products. We have explored factors which
influence the course of the
reaction and exemplified the synthetic value of the approach by
preparing a number of aromatic
intermediates (7−8,
15−25).