Oxidative C-O coupling of pyrazolones with N-hydroxy compounds of different classes (N-hydroxyphthalimide, N-hydroxybenzotriazole, oximes) was achieved; both one-electron oxidants (Fe(ClO 4 ) 3 , (NH 4 ) 2 Ce(NO 3 ) 6 ) and two-electron oxidants (PhI(OAc) 2 , Pb(OAc) 4 ) are applicable, and the yields reach 91%. Apparently, the coupling proceeds via the formation of N-oxyl radicals from N-hydroxy compounds. One of the N-oxyl intermediates, the diacetyliminoxyl radical, was found to be exclusively stable in solution in spite of being sterically unhindered; it was isolated from an oxidant and used as a new reagent for the synthesis and mechanism study. The products of C-O coupling of pyrazolones with N-hydroxyphthalimide can be easily transformed into aminooxy compounds, valuable substances for combinatorial chemistry.

N-Oxyl radicals (compounds with an N–O• fragment) represent one of the richest families of stable and persistent organic radicals with applications ranging from catalysis of selective oxidation processes and mechanistic studies to production of polymers, energy storage, magnetic materials design and spectroscopic studies of biological objects. Compared to other N-oxyl radicals, oxime radicals (or iminoxyl radicals) have been underestimated for a long time as useful intermediates for organic synthesis, despite the fact that their precursors, oximes, are extremely widespread and easily available organic compounds. Furthermore, oxime radicals are structurally exceptional. In these radicals, the N–O• fragment is connected to an organic moiety by a double bond, whereas all other classes of N-oxyl radicals contain an R2N–O• fragment with two single C–N bonds. Although oxime radicals have been known since 1964, their broad synthetic potential was not recognized until the last decade, when numerous selective reactions of oxidative cyclization, functionalization, and coupling mediated by iminoxyl radicals were discovered. This review is focused on the synthetic methods based on iminoxyl radicals developed in the last ten years and also contains some selected data on previous works regarding generation, structure, stability, and spectral properties of these N-oxyl radicals. The reactions of oxime radicals are classified into intermolecular (oxidation by oxime radicals, oxidative C–O coupling) and intramolecular. The majority of works are devoted to intramolecular reactions of oxime radicals. These reactions are classified into cyclizations involving C–H bond cleavage and cyclizations involving a double C=C bond cleavage.

Oximes represent one of the fundamental organic compound classes with a wide range of synthetic applications. In the last decade O-substituted oximes were recognized as the synthetically available and versatile precursors of iminyl radicals via one-electron oxidation or one-electron reduction employing visible light photoredox catalysts, salts of abundant metals (such as Cu or Fe), or other convenient reagents. Iminyl radicals are powerful synthons for various processes of cyclization, ringopening, CH-functionalization, and coupling. The present review is focused on the synthetic methods based on oxime-derived iminyl radicals developed in the last few years excluding ring opening reactions of cyclic iminyl radicals that were summarized in recent publications. The review consists of two main parts:(1) reactions of iminyl radicals involving 1,n-hydrogen atom transfer (n = 5 in most cases) and (2) reactions involving the addition of iminyl radical to the carbon-carbon π-bond.