Acid/Base-Co-catalyzed Formal Baeyer-Villiger Oxidation Reaction of Ketones: Using Molecular Oxygen as the Oxidant.

A novel acid/base-co-catalyzed formal Baeyer-Villiger oxidation of various ketones using O2 as the sole oxidant under metal-free conditions has been developed for the first time. The reaction tolerates a wide range of ketones and anilines and provides a simple and efficient method for the construction of various amides and isoquinolin-1-ones from the reactions of ketones with anilines in a single step.