Visible-Light-Promoted Metal-Free Aerobic Oxidation of Primary Amines to Acids and Lactones

A unique metal-free aerobic oxidation of primary amines via visible light photocatalytic double carbon-carbon bonds cleavage and multi carbon-hydrogen bonds oxidation was observed. Aerobic oxidation of primary amines could be controlled to afford acids by using dioxane with 18W CFL, and lactones by using DMF with 8W green LEDs, respectively. A plausible mechanism was proposed based on control experiments. This observation showed direct evidences for the fragmentation in the aerobic oxidation of aliphatic primary amines.