Synthesis of Cyclic Enones via Aerobic Dehydrogenation

Stahl et al. have reported the synthesis of cyclic enones via aerobic dehydrogenation. According to their results, the regioselective dehydrogenation proceeds to afford the corresponding cyclic enones by the reaction of cyclic ketones with O₂ in the presence of palladium(II) trifluoroacetate and DMSO as catalysts, and AcOH as a solvent. This method is an atom-economical alternative to the existing methods which use stoichiometric reagents, such as IBX. This reaction can find broad utility because cyclic enones are common intermediates in the synthesis of natural products.