ThesisAuthors: Schultz, Mitchell John (2006)
The development of metal-catalysts for the oxidation of various functional groups is an ongoing endeavor in the field of organometallic chemistry. A constant challenge is employing practical oxidants, of which, molecular oxygen is advantageous because is it readily available, inexpensive, and produces benign byproducts. Herein, research performed by Mitchell John Schultz under the guidance of Professor Matthew S. Sigman on the Pd-catalyzed aerobic oxidation of alcohols and dialkoxylation of olefins is discussed.
Three Pd-catalysts developed for the aerobic oxidation of alcohols are presented and the effectiveness of each catalyst system is evaluated for a broad scope of alcohols. The application of these oxidation catalysts to chiral nonracemic, chemo-, and diastereoselective subst... 
