A concise approach to indoles via oxidative C–H amination of 2-alkenylanilines using dioxygen as the sole oxidant

An operationally simple and environmental friendly approach to indole derivatives from N-Ts-2-alkenylanilines has been achieved, which involves an oxidative intramolecular C–H amination by using molecular oxygen as sole oxidant.

Organoselenium-catalyzed selectivity-switchable oxidation of β-ionone

The selectivities of the oxidations of β-ionone 1 were switched by the organoselenium catalyst used. [3,5-(CF₃)₂C₆H₃Se]₂ led to (E)-5,6-epoxy-β-ionone (2, 72% yield), while (PhCH₂Se)₂ gave the major Baeyer–Villiger oxidation product 3 in excellent yield (91%).

Dehydration of Aldoximes Using PhSe(O)OH as the Pre-Catalyst in Air

PhSe(O)OH was found to be a good pre-catalyst for aldoxime dehydrations in open air. Compared with the previously reported (PhSe)(2)-H(2)O(2) system, it is more stable and milder, affording broader application scopes due to a higher functional group tolerance. The control experiments for mechanism study disclosed that air was the key factor for the reaction to maintain enough concentration of PhSeOH, which should be the real catalytic species.