Efficient and selective catalytic oxidative cleavage of α-hydroxy ketones using vanadium-based HPA and dioxygen

The combination of H3 + n[PMo12 - nVnO 40].aq (HPA-n, n = 3) and dioxygen proides a clean and regioselective reagent for the homolytic cleavage of various representative alpha-hydroxy ketones (primaryto tertiary) and turns out to be as efficient for the catalytic ring opening of chiral natural products.