A sterically bulky cyclic thiourea as an efficient ligand for palladium-catalyzed aerobic oxidation of alcohols

Sterically bulky N,N'-disubstituted cyclic thiourea ligand L1 has been demonstrated as an efficient ligand in palladium-catalyzed oxidation of alcohols using molecular oxygen as an oxidant. This new catalyst system has been applied to a wide variety of substrates such as benzylic alcohols, aliphatic secondary alcohols and allylic alcohols, producing the corresponding carbonyl compounds in good to excellent yields.