Efficient Synthesis of p-Quinols Using Catalytic Hypervalent Iodine Oxidation of 4-Arylphenols with 4-Iodophenoxyacetic Acid and Oxone (R)

Efficient synthesis of p-quinols (2) using catalytic hypervalent iodine oxidation of 4-arylphenols (1) with 4-iodophenoxyacetic acid (3) and Oxone (R) was developed. Reaction of I with a catalytic amount of 3 in the presence of Oxone (R) as a co-oxidant in tetrahydrofuran or 1,4-dioxane-water gave the corresponding 2 in excellent yields.