Noble metals are ideal catalysts for organic transformations because they typically undergo facile two-electron redox chemistry. This presentation will describe recent studies of Cu-catalyzed aerobic oxidation reactions in which the catalyst consists of a metal more commonly associated with one-electron redox chemistry. In most of the reactions we have investigated, O2 undergoes four-electron reduction to water. The mechanistic basis for these observations will be elaborated.

Cu-catalyzed aerobic oxidation reactions: How does a metal that undergoes one-electron redox chemistry mediate two-electron oxidation reactions with a four-electron oxidant?

246th National Meeting (2013)

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