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Updated: Jul 18, 2026

Enzymatic Cascade Reactions for the Synthesis of Chiral Amino Alcohols from L-lysine
Published on: February 16, 2018
An efficient and practical system for the catalytic oxidation of alcohols, aldehydes, and alpha,beta-unsaturated
Joseph M Grill1, James W Ogle, Stephen A Miller
1Department of Chemistry, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843-3255, USA.
Abstract:
Upon exposure to commercial bleach (approximately 5% aqueous sodium hypochlorite), nickel(II) chloride or nickel(II) acetate is transformed quantitatively into an insoluble nickel species, nickel oxide hydroxide. This material consists of high surface area nanoparticles (ca. 4 nm) and is a useful heterogeneous catalyst for the oxidation of many organic compounds. The oxidation of primary alcohols to carboxylic acids, secondary alcohols to ketones, aldehydes to carboxylic acids, and alpha, beta-unsaturated carboxylic acids to epoxy acids is demonstrated using 2.5 mol % of nickel catalyst and commercial bleach as the terminal oxidant. We demonstrate the controlled and selective oxidation of several organic substrates using this system affording 70-95% isolated yields and 90-100% purity. In most cases, the oxidations can be performed without an organic solvent, making this approach attractive as a "greener" alternative to conventional oxidations.
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