Deep eutectic solvent-catalyzed Meyer-Schuster rearrangement of propargylic alcohols under mild and bench reaction conditions

The Meyer–Schuster rearrangement of propargylic alcohols into alpha,beta-unsaturated carbonyl compounds has been revisited by setting up an atom-economic process catalyzed by a deep eutectic solvent FeCl3 6H2O/glycerol. Isomerizations take place smoothly, at room temperature, under air and with short reaction times. The unique solubilizing properties of the eutectic mixture enabled the use of a substrate concentration up to 1.0 M with the medium being recycled up to ten runs without any loss of catalytic activity

A one-pot two-step synthesis of tertiary alcohols combining the biocatalytic laccase/TEMPO oxidation system with organolithium reagents in aerobic aqueous media at room temperature

The one-pot/two-step combination of enzymes and polar organometallic chemistry in aqueous media is for the first time presented as a proof-of-concept study. The unprecedented combination of the catalytic oxidation of secondary alcohols by the system laccase/TEMPO with the ultrafast addition (3 s reaction time) of polar organometallic reagents (RLi/RMgX) to thein situformed ketones, run under air at room temperature, allows the straightforward and chemoselective synthesis of tertiary alcohols with broad substrate scope and excellent conversions (up to 96%)