The selective, anaerobic catalytic oxidation of secondary alcohols at room temperature by using an in situ (N-heterocyclic carbene)-Ni(0) system is presented. The use of non-anhydrous, non-degassed 2,4-dichlorotoluene as both the oxidant and the solvent allows for very short reaction times and very high yields. In addition, a well-defined (N-heterocyclic carbene)-Ni(0) complex was synthesized and applied to these oxidation reactions.

The use of aryl chlorides as oxidants for the selective oxidation of a variety of secondary alcohols in anaerobic conditions with (NHC)-Pd and -Ni systems (NHC = N-heterocyclic carbene) at very mild temperatures is presented.

The use of commercially available (SIPr)Pd(cinnamyl)Cl (SIPr = 1,3-bis(2,6-diisopropylphenyl)-4,5-dihydroimidazol-2-ylidene) as a precatalyst for the anaerobic oxidation of secondary alcohols is described. The use of this complex allows for a drastic reduction in the reaction times and catalyst loading when compared to the unsaturated counterpart. This catalytic system is compatible with the use of microwave dielectric heating, decreasing even further catalyst loading and reaction times. Domino Pd-catalyzed oxidation-arylation reactions of secondary alcohols are also presented.

An unprecedented multicomponent organocatalyzed Knoevenagel-aza-Michael-cyclocondensation reaction between Meldrum's acid, hydroxylamines, and aldehydes afforded a straightforward entry to a large array of racemic and syn-diastereoenriched isoxazolidinones as synthetically useful scaffolds. This process revealed a markedly facile aza-Michael-cyclocondensation sequence as a key domino reaction between RCO2NHOH and transient alkylidene Meldrum's acid upon Brønsted base catalysis.