Oxidations of Dihydroxyalkanoates to Vicinal Tricarbonyl Compounds with a 4-BzOTEMPO-Sodium Bromite System or by Indirect Electrolysis with 4-BzOTEMPO and Bromide Ion

Inokuchi, T.; Liu, P.; Torii, S. Chem. Lett. 1994, 1411.

An efficient access to vicinal dioxoalkanoates, one of structural elements of potent competitive inhibitors of hydrolytic enzyme, from 2,3-dihydroxyalkanoates has been developed, which features an one-step procedure with a mild oxidizing system using recyclable 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl in combination with NaBrO₂･3H₂O or electrogenerated active bromine apecies as a real oxidant.