NH3⋠H2O: The Simplest Nitrogen-Containing Ligand for Selective Aerobic Alcohol Oxidation to Aldehydes or Nitriles in Neat Water.

Aqueous ammonia (NH3⋅H2O) has been shown to serve as the simplest nitrogen-containing ligand to effectively promote copper-catalyzed selective alcohol oxidation under air in water. A series of alcohols with varying electronic and steric properties were selectively oxidized to aldehydes with up to 95 % yield. Notably, by increasing the amount of aqueous ammonia in neat water, the exclusive formation of aryl nitriles was also accomplished with good-to-excellent yields. Additionally, the catalytic system exhibits a high level of functional group tolerance with -OH, -NO2, esters, and heteroaryl groups all being amenable to the reaction conditions. This one-pot and green oxidation protocol provides an important synthetic route for the selective preparation of either aldehydes or nitriles from commercially available alcohols.