Abstract A number of efficient catalytic procedures for the oxidation of acid-sensitive substrate such as 2-methyl-3-buten-2-ol to the corresponding ketone (2-methylbutan-2-ol-3- one) are compared. Reaction with dioxygen (or quinone) and a palladium precursor (PdCl 2 or [PdCl (NO 2)(CH 3 CN) 2]) under mild conditions (⋍ 35 C), gave good conversions (⋍ 98%) and good selectivities (⋍ 90%).