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Updated: Feb 15, 2026

Retropinacol/Cross-pinacol Coupling Reactions - A Catalytic Access to 1,2-Unsymmetrical Diols
Published on: April 4, 2014
Silver(I)-Catalyzed Widely Applicable Aerobic 1,2-Diol Oxidative Cleavage
Zhong-Zhen Zhou1,2, Mingxin Liu1, Leiyang Lv1,3
1Department of Chemistry and FRQNT Center for Green Chemistry and Catalysis, McGill University, Montreal, QC, H3A 0B8, Canada.
Abstract:
The oxidative cleavage of 1,2-diols is a fundamental organic transformation. The stoichiometric oxidants that are still predominantly used for such oxidative cleavage, such as H5 IO6 , Pb(OAc)4 , and KMnO4 , generate stoichiometric hazardous waste. Herein, we describe a widely applicable and highly selective silver(I)-catalyzed oxidative cleavage of 1,2-diols that consumes atmospheric oxygen as the sole oxidant, thus serving as a potentially greener alternative to the classical transformations.
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