Copper(ii)-catalyzed and acid-promoted highly regioselective oxidation of tautomerizable C(sp 3 )-H bonds adjacent to 3,4-dihydroisoquinolines using air (O 2 ) as a clean oxidant.

A mild, efficient and eco-friendly method for the oxidation of 1-Bn-DHIQs to 1-Bz-DHIQs without concomitant excessive oxidation of 1-Bz-DHIQs to 1-Bz-IQs is very important for the syntheses of 1-Bz-DHIQ alkaloids and analogues. In this article, we developed a novel Cu(ii)-catalyzed and acid-promoted highly regioselective oxidation of tautomerizable C(sp 3 )-H bonds adjacent to the C-1 positions of various 1-Bn-DHIQs. It was observed that when 0.2 equiv. of Cu(OAc) 2 ·2H 2 O was used as the catalyst, 3.0 equiv. of AcOH was used as the additive and air (O 2 ) was used as a clean oxidant, various 1-Bn-DHIQs could be efficiently oxidized to corresponding 1-Bz-DHIQs at 25 °C in DMSO. Especially, almost no concomitant excessive oxidation of 1-Bz-DHIQs to 1-Bz-IQs was observed during the above reaction. In addition, this method was successfully applied in the first total synthesis of the alkaloid canelillinoxine.