In this article, we describe the development of a new aerobic C−H oxidation methodology catalyzed by a precious metal-free LaMnO 3 perovskite catalyst. Molecular oxygen is used as the sole oxidant in this approach, obviating the need for other expensive and/or environmentally hazardous stoichiometric oxidants. The electronic and structural properties of the LaMnO 3 catalysts were systematically optimized, and a reductive pretreatment protocol was proved to be essential for acquiring the observed high catalytic activities. It is demonstrated that this newly developed method was extremely effective for the oxidation of alkylarenes to ketones as well as for the oxidative dimerization of 2-naphthol to 1,1-binaphthyl-2,2-diol (BINOL), a particularly important scaffold for asymmetric catalysis. Detailed spectroscopic and mechanistic studies provided valuable insights into the structural aspects of the active catalyst and the reaction mechanism.

In this work, we developed an efficient method for the rapid construction of fluoranthene skeleton to access a variety of substituted hydroxyfluoranthenes. The 1-iodo-8-alkynylnaphthalene derivatives, which serve as substrates for the key fluoranthene-forming step, were prepared via selective monoalkynylative Sonogashira reactions of 1,8-diiodonaphthalene. The domino reaction sequence which involves a sequential Suzuki–Miyaura coupling, an intramolecular Diels–Alder reaction, and an aromatization-driven ring-opening isomerization has been shown to give substituted hydroxyfluoranthenes in up to 92% yield. This work demonstrates the utility of designing new domino reactions for rapid access to substituted polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs).

Two-dimensional (2D) bimetallic Ni x Mn1–x (OH) y layered double hydroxide (LDH) nanostructures were synthesized and optimized as a remarkably active catalytic platform for low-temperature aerobic C–H bond activation in alkylarenes and partial oxidation of alcohols using a wide substrate (i.e., reactant) and diverse solvent scope. The Ni x Mn1–x (OH)y structure consists of nonprecious and earth-abundant metals that can effectively operate at low catalyst loadings, requiring only molecular oxygen as the stoichiometric oxidant. Structurally diverse alkylarenes as well as primary and secondary alcohols were shown to be competent substrates where oxidation products were obtained in excellent yields (93–99%). Comprehensive catalyst structural characterization via XRD, ATR-IR, TEM, EDX, XPS, BET, and TGA indicated that the ultimately optimized Ni0.6Mn0.4(OH) y -9S catalyst possessed not only particular rotational faults in its β-Ni0.6Mn0.4(OH) y domains but also distinct α/β-Ni0.6Mn0.4(OH) y interstratification disorders, in addition to a relatively high specific surface area of 125 m2/g, a 2D platelet morphology, and an average Mn oxidation state of +3.5, suggesting the presence of both Mn3+ and Mn4+ species in its structure working in a synergistic fashion with the Ni2+/x+ cations (the latter is justified by the lack of catalytic activity in the monometallic LDH catalysts Ni(OH)2 and Mn(OH)2). Kinetic isotope effect studies carried out in the fluorene oxidation reaction (k H /k D = 5.7) revealed that the rate-determining step of the catalytic oxidation reaction directly involved the scission of a C–H bond. Moreover, the optimized catalyst was demonstrated to be reusable through the application of a regeneration protocol, which can redeem the full initial activity of the carbon-poisoned spent catalyst in the fluorene oxidation reaction.