Baeyer-Villiger Oxidation

The Baeyer-Villiger Oxidation is the oxidative cleavage of a carbon-carbon bond adjacent to a carbonyl, which converts ketones to esters and cyclic ketones to lactones. The Baeyer-Villiger can be carried out with peracids, such as MCBPA, or with hydrogen peroxide and a Lewis acid.
The regiospecificity of the reaction depends on the relative migratory ability of the substituents attached to the carbonyl. Substituents which are able to stabilize a positive charge migrate more readily, so that the order of preference is: tert. alkyl > cyclohexyl > sec. alkyl > phenyl > prim. alkyl > CH₃. In some cases, stereoelectronic or ring strain factors also affect the regiochemical outcome.

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Mechanism of the Baeyer-Villiger Oxidation