Selectfluor-mediated oxidative deamination: A scalable approach to aromatic aldehydes synthesis

The catalyst-free oxidative deamination without over-oxidation constitutes a considerable challenge in the synthesis of aromatic aldehydes. Herein, we introduce a Selectfluor-mediated Lewis acid system that achieves the oxidative deamination of benzylic amines with α-C-H bond activation to yield aromatic aldehydes. Noteworthy features include the direct use of Selectfluor that can activate the α-C-H bond under catalyst- and base-free conditions via the in-situ dehydrofluorination effect. The approach is demonstrated for a broad scope of benzylic amines without over-oxidation and accomplishes 200 mmol scale synthesis.