Nitrogen dioxide-catalyzed aerobic oxidation of benzyl alcohols under cocatalyst and acid-free conditions.

Nitrogen dioxide is usually considered as a mediator between dioxygen and the catalysts for the aerobic oxidation of alcohols. Here, we report that nitrogen dioxide has an ability to catalyze this reaction, which not only avoids the use of the cocatalysts or the acids in traditional approaches, but also reveals a method for the present transformation with a single component catalyst. A series of primary and secondary benzyl alcohols underwent this transformation to give the targeted products in low to high yields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]