Fe-Catalyzed Acceptorless Dehydrogenation of Secondary Benzylic Alcohols

Oxidation of alcohols is an essential organic reaction, affording versatile carbonyl groups. To provide a sustainable solution for environmentally harmful traditional oxidation methods, the transition-metal catalyzed acceptor-free dehydrogenation of alcohols has attracted much attention. The widely used catalysts for the dehydrogenation reaction are based on precious metals, which are not economical and environmentally benign. We developed an operationally simple, economical, and environmentally benign acceptorless Fe-catalyzed dehydrogenation of various secondary benzylic alcohols to afford the corresponding ketones and H₂. A simple in situ mixture of readily available Fe­(III) acetylacetonate, 1,10-phenanthroline, and K₂CO₃ was identified as an active catalyst for this transformation