Facile oxidative cleavage of benzylidene acetals using molecular oxygen catalyzed by N-hydroxyphthalimide/Co(OAc)2

Benzylidene acetals derived from 1,2- and 1,3-diols undergo facile oxidative cleavage to give hydroxy benzoate esters with molecular oxygen in the presence of catalytic amount of N-hydroxyphthalimide/Co(OAc)2.