Primary alcohols undergo efficiently oxidative dimerization by iridium complexes under air without any solvent to form esters in fair to good yields. For instance, the reaction of 1- dodecanol in the presence of [IrCl (coe) 2] 2 (3mol%) at 95° C for 15h produced dodecyl dodecanoate in 91% isolated yield. This is the first successful Ir-catalyzed oxidative dimerization of primary alcohols to esters using air as an oxidant. Various primary ...
[Rawlings, Bernard J.; Reese, Paul B.; Ramer, Shawn E.; Vederas, John C. Journal of the American Chemical Society, 1989 , vol. 111, # 9 p. 3382 - 3390]
