Harnessing Autoxidation of Aldehydes: Iodoarene Catalyzed Synthesis of Substituted 1,3,4-Oxadiazole, in the Presence of Molecular Oxygen.

Isobutyraldehyde underwent auto-oxidation in the presence of molecular oxygen to generate an acyloxy radical under a "metal-free" environment. They were subsequently exploited to afford hypervalent iodines with -anisolyl iodide which generated substituted 1,3,4-oxadiazoles in moderate to excellent yields from '-arylidene acetohydrazides. The reaction strategy tolerated diverse substitution on the hydrazide substrates. Control experiments and literature precedence supported the formation of an iodosylarene complex that facilitates the formation of products.