A one-pot procedure for the preparation of catecholestrogens in over 90% yield is reported, involving oxygenation of 17β-estradiol or estrone with o-iodoxybenzoic acid (IBX) followed by reduction with methanolic NaBH4. The procedure, which was extended to the o- hydroxylation of a number of representative phenols in good-to-high yields, expands significantly the scope of phenolic oxidation mediated by IBX.
