Selective Oxidative Esterification from Two Different Alcohols via Photoredox Catalysis
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Updated: Mar 13, 2026

Light-driven Enzymatic Decarboxylation
Published on: May 22, 2016
Hong Yi1, Xia Hu1, Changliang Bian1
1College of Chemistry and Molecular Sciences, The Institute for Advanced Studies (IAS), Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430072, Hubei, P.R. China.
Abstract:
Esters functionalities are important building blocks that are extensively used in the chemical industry and academic laboratories. Direct oxidative esterification from easy-available alcohols to esters would be a much more appealing approach, especially using O2 as terminal oxidant. Inputting external energy by photocatalysis for dioxygen activation, a mild and simple method for ester synthesis from two different alcohols has been achieved in this work. This reaction is performed under neutral conditions using O2 as the terminal oxidant. A variety of primary alcohols, especially long chain alcohols and secondary alcohols are tolerated in this system.
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