Green synthesis of low-carbon chain nitroalkanes via a novel tandem reaction of ketones catalyzed by TS-1

Abstract A green and efficient one-pot method has been developed for the synthesis of low-carbon chain nitroalkanes via a novel TS-1 catalyzed tandem oxidation of ketones with H 2 O 2 and NH 3 . The tandem reaction including ammoxidation, oximation and oxidation of oximes, afforded up to 88% yield and 98% chemo-selectivity requiring only 90 min, at 70 °C and atmospheric pressure. Moreover, this method was even amenable to 100-fold scale-up without loss of chemical efficiency with 87% yield, represents a significant advance towards industrial production of nitroalkanes. Furthermore, the plausible mechanism of TS-1 catalyzed tandem oxidation of ketones to prepare nitroalkanes was proposed.