New oxidative pathways for the synthesis of α-hydroxy ketones -: the α-hydroxylation and ketohydroxylation

alpha-Hydroxy ketones serve as versatile intermediates in organic chemistry. Although this functional group combination allows a variety of synthetic manipulation, catalytic methods for the selective generation of this structural motif, via oxidation of carbonyl compounds (alpha-hydroxylation) or olefins (ketohydroxylation), have recently been developed. The present review gives a brief overview of the recent developments in the field of catalytic alpha-hydroxylations and ketohydroxylations, with a focus on the latter reaction. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.