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A greener and inexpensive electrochemical method has been developed for the oxidation of benzyl alcohols by homogeneous electrolysis. The electrochemical reaction was carried out in an undivided cell equipped with carbon and stainless steel electrodes at room temperature. The homogeneous solution made up of acetonitrile/water containing substrate and ammonium bromide with a catalytic amount of H2SO4 as supporting electrolyte. The reaction condition was optimized with various electrochemical experimental parameters and evaluated with various substituted benzyl alcohols to result in excellent yield of aldehydes (>83%). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The α-bromination of carbonyl compounds is one of the most important transformations and also important precursors in synthetic organic chemistry. Particularly, the side chain monobromination of carbonyl compounds has been a challenging task, because during the reaction a small amount of disubstituted or ring brominated products as an impurity is always accompanied with monosubstituted product in the reaction mixture. In recent years substantial advances have been made for the synthesis of brominated aromatic carbonyl compounds with high selectivity. In this review, we have summarized various methods for the synthesis of α-bromo aromatic carbonyl compounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]