Designing reactions in aqueous media has been one of the major challenges in modern organic synthesis, especially to avoid the use of large amounts of organic solvents whose disposal is a matter of grave concern from an environmental perspective. The oxidation of alcohols and amines is an essential and important step in the synthesis of many valuable products including polymers and pharmaceuticals. In recent times, there has been a surge in the use of water as a solvent in many organic reactions. This review focuses specifically on the oxidation reactions of alcohols and amines carried out in water media using transition metal catalysts, metal‐free catalysts and photocatalysts.

Herein, we report a new method for the synthesis of aminodiborane (µ-NH2B2H5), by the reaction of NH3BH3 and elemental iodine (I2). The in situ generated aminodiborane is used as a...

Herein, we report a new air-stable phosphine-free 8-AQ (8-aminoquinoline) based Mn(I) carbonyl complex as the catalyst for the C(α)-alkylation of oxindoles with alcohols. The Mn complex [(8-AQ)Mn(CO) 3 Br] works effectively as a catalyst for the α-alkylation of oxindoles by both secondary as well as primary alcohols. The procedure has been used for the synthesis of pharmaceutically important recently developed oxindoles such as 3-( 4-methoxybenzyl)indolin-2-one, 3-(4-(dimethylamino)benzyl)indolin-2-one, 3-(4-(dimethylamino)phenyl)-5-fluoroindolin-2-one and 3-(benzo[d][1,3]dioxol-5-ylmethyl)indolin-2-one, which are found to be effective in preventing specific types of cell death in neurodegenerative disorders. Control experiments have been carried out to investigate the reaction mechanism and the crucial role of metal-ligand cooperation via -NH 2 moiety during catalysis.

New water soluble neutral and cationic palladium complexes were synthesized using 8-aminoquinoline (8-AQ) and 2-methyl 8-aminoquinoline (2-Me 8-AQ) ligands and their catalytic properties were evaluated. The neutral trimeric complexes having a Pd 3 N 3 core were found to form when Pd(OAc) 2 was reacted with 8-AQ or 2-Me 8-AQ irrespective of the stoichiometry between the 2 reagents. Controlled addition of triflic acid to the neutral trimeric complex resulted in the formation of a trimeric cationic palladium complex as well as a monomeric cationic complex. A cationic palladium complex having two units of 2-Me-8AQ ligand was also synthesized from the cationic monomeric complex. Crystal structures of the new palladium complexes are reported in this study. The water-soluble neutral palladium complex showed catalytic activity for the oxidation of benzyl alcohols to benzaldehydes, while the cationic palladium complexes were found to be efficient catalysts for the oxidation of styrenes to methyl ketones.

γ-Valerolactone (GVL), an industrially important compound and green-solvent was synthesized using a metalfree method by I 2 /Et 3 SiH directly from levulinic acid at room temperature in good yield. Different types of keto-acids were also subjected to this methodology to synthesize the corresponding lactones. A 2-gram scale reaction was successfully carried out in good yield. Control experiments indicated that in situ generated Et 3 SiI is the active catalyst for this reaction.