The oxidation of alcohols to aldehydes, ketones, and carboxylic acids is reported using 2,2,6,6‐tetramethylpiperidine‐4‐acetamido‐hydroxyammonium tetrafluoroborate as a catalyst in conjunction with sodium hypochlorite pentahydrate as a terminal oxidant. The reaction is generally complete within 30–120 min using an acetonitrile/water mix as the solvent, and no additives are required. Product yields are good to excellent and of particular note is that the methodology can be used to access aryl α‐trifluoromethyl ketones.

We present an alcohol oxidation strategy to access α-trifluoromethyl ketones (TFMKs) merging catalytic oxoammonium cation oxidation with visible-light photoredox catalysis. This work uses 4-acetamido-(2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-piperidin-1-yl)oxyl as an organic oxidant capable of generating TFMKs in good yields. The methodology serves as an improvement over previous reports of an analogous oxidation strategy requiring superstoichiometric quantities of oxidant. Both primary and secondary non-fluorinated alcohols can also be oxidised in good yields.