Selective Oxidation of Alkyl Benzenes Using CrO3 Combined with Ce(SO4)2

Abstract

A novel system of oxidant-CrO₃ combined with Ce(SO₄)₂, has been demonstrated to be an effective and economic oxidant for the oxidation of alkyl benzenes to ketones or aldehydes with little by-products and high yields. Including 1-(2,4-diethylphenyl)ethanone (3), seven alkyl benzenes have been studied, the products have been characterized by the elemental analyses, ¹H, ¹³C NMR and EI-MS. The possible mechanisms of this oxidation reaction were also proposed. The obtained 5-acetyl-3-methylisobenzofuran-1(3H)-one (5), the by-product of 3 was also confirmed by the crystal structure.