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Updated: Jun 28, 2025

Synthesis of Esters Via a Greener Steglich Esterification in Acetonitrile
Published on: October 30, 2018
Relay Catalysis for Selective Aerobic Oxidative Esterification of Primary Alcohols with Methanol
1Research Center for Molecular Recognition and Synthesis, Department of Chemistry, Fudan University, 220 Handan Lu, Shanghai 200433, P. R. China.
Abstract:
Esters are bulk and fine chemicals and ubiquitous in polymers, bioactive compounds, and natural products. Their traditional synthetic approach is the esterification of carboxylic acids or their activated derivatives with alcohols. Herein, a bimetallic relay catalytic protocol was developed for the aerobic esterification of one alcohol in the presence of a slowly oxidizing alcohol, which has been identified as methanol. A concise synthesis of phlomic acid was executed to demonstrate the practicality and potential of this reaction.
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