Metal-Free Aerobic Oxidative Esterification of Aldehydes in the Presence of Potassium Fluoride

Ester functionality is among the most abundant functional groups in natural products,polymers, and pharmaceuticals [1]. In the recent years, direct catalytic transformationof aldehydes to esters has achieved considerable interest. This method have a drawback related to the catalyst cost which represent an impractical aspect for largescale.For this reason, direct esterification of aldehydes under catalyst-free conditions is a challenging task in organic chemistry [2]. Herein, we describe the direct synthesis of esters from aldehydes in presence of potassium fluoride and alcohols via metal-free aerobic oxidative esterification reaction in DMF