ELECTROCATALYTIC OXIDATION OF ALCOHOLS USING SUBSTITUTED N-HYDROXYPHTHALIMIDES AS CATALYSTS

The electrocatalytic oxidation of several alcohols was performed using a new series of substituted N-hydroxyphthalimides as catalysts. The s ubstitution in the N-hydroxyphthalimide structure by electron withdraw ing or donor substituents has a beneficial effect on the efficiency of the electrocatalytic oxidation of borneol, used as a model, although the progressive degradation of the catalysts during preparative electr olyses is observed. In the case of lowest activated alcohols such as 2 -octanol the use of the regular structure allows the best chemical yie ld in the corresponding carbonyl compounds to be obtained. Moreover, p rimary;alcohol oxidation under anaerobic conditions leads to the corre sponding aldehyde exclusively, whereas in the presence of molecular ox ygen a mixture of the corresponding aldehyde and carboxylic acid is ob tained. (C) 1998 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserve d.