Highly selective, economical and efficient oxidation of alcohols to aldehydes and ketones by air and sunlight or visible light in the presence of porphyrins sensitizers

In this work, a new aerobic route is introduced for the selective oxidation of a variety of aromatic and aliphatic alcohols to the corresponding aldehyde and ketone derivatives by molecular oxygen in the presence of free base porphyrins and metalloporphyrins as sensitizers using white light or sunlight in an organic solvent. The method shows a wide scope, exhibits chemoselectivity and proceeds under mild reaction conditions. The resulting products are obtained in good conversions in a reasonable time.