Copper-Catalyzed Cross-Dehydrogenative Coupling of α-Hydroxy Esters with Nitromethane

An efficient copper-catalyzed tandem oxidation/nitro-aldol reaction of hydroxyl compounds with nucleophiles is developed. In this work, β-nitro-α-hydroxy esters were prepared via cross-dehydrogenative coupling reaction using α-hydroxy esters as hydroxyl compounds and nitromethane as a nucleophile. The reaction is believed to undergo an oxidation of hydroxyl group and then an addition of the generated carbonyl group. It’s an example of CDC reactions related to hydroxyl compounds via carbonyl intermediates.