Mo@PANI-catalyzed oxidative deoximation reaction

Deoximation is an important transformation in synthetic industry. It can be employed in protection, characterization and purification of the carbonyls, and in the synthesis of ketones from non-carbonyl molecules. In the field, oxidative deoximation reaction can utilize the driving force caused by the oxidation process so that the reaction can occur under relatively mild conditions. Recently, we designed and prepared polyaniline-supported molybdenum (Mo@PANI) just by immersing PANI into the EtOH/H2O solution of MoCl5. The material was successfully applied as the efficient catalyst for oxidative deoximation reactions, which were performed in ethanol using H2O2 as the clean oxidant. The substrate scope of the reaction was wide. It could be applied on heterocycle-containing substrates, making this protocol preferable for pharmaceutical intermediate synthesis. Since Mo is a necessary trace element for both animals and plants, this method is environment-friendly and is suitable for large-scale preparation. This work as the first example of Mo-catalyzed oxidative deoximation reaction may inspire novel ideas for both catalyst design and synthetic process development.