In memory of Emeritus Professor Demetrios N. Nicolaides (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki),
who passed away in December 2022.
Abstract
The phenol moiety appears in a wide variety of natural products, exhibiting biological
activity, and in numerous active pharmaceutical compounds. Boronic acids are potential
precursors of the phenol scaffold, and a plethora of efforts has been focused in developing
novel and green protocols, targeting their chemoselective transformation into phenols.
Photochemistry is a rapidly expanding research field converting light energy into
chemical potential. Photochemical aerobic processes possess additional advantages
to photochemistry and may find applications in chemical industries. Herein, a low-catalyst-loading
anthraquinone-catalyzed photochemical process is demonstrated, under CFL lamp irradiation,
while exploiting 2-Me-THF as the reaction medium for the conversion of boronic acids
into phenols. Furthermore, a broad substrate scope was employed.
Key words
photochemistry - aerobic oxidation - green chemistry - boronic acid - anthraquinone