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COMMUNICATIONS
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amount of KI in the presence of TBHP as the exter-
nal oxidant. Compared to the established methods,
the present catalytic system is highly selective towards
the nitro compounds and works well for both elec-
tron-rich and electron-poor substrates. Moreover, this
non-transition metal catalytic system avoids the use of
expensive metal catalysts and toxic oxidants and pro-
vides an easy separation protocol.
Experimental Section
General Procedure for the Synthesis of Nitro
Compounds from Amines
To a solution of amine (1.0 mmol) and potassium iodide
(0.05 mmol) in 3 mL of CH3CN was added a solution of
70% aqueous TBHP (3.8 mmol) dropwise over a period of
30 min and the mixture was stirred at 808C. The mixture
was quenched with saturated aqueous Na2S2O3 after 15 h,
washed with brine, extracted with ethyl acetate and dried
over anhydrous Na2SO4. Removal of the solvent under
vacuum afforded the crude product, which was purified by
column chromatography using hexane/ethyl acetate mixture
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1
and then analyzed by H NMR, GC and GC-MS.
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cited therein.
Acknowledgements
C. U. M. and M. V. thank the Council of Scientific Industrial
Research (CSIR) and Department of Biotechnology (DBT)
India, respectively, for their fellowships.
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