Combination of organocatalytic oxidation of alcohols and organolithium chemistry (RLi) in aqueous media, at room temperature and under aerobic conditions

A tandem protocol to access tertiary alcohols has been developed which combines the organocatalytic oxidation of secondary alcohols to ketones followed by their chemoselective addition by several RLi reagents. Reactions take place at room temperature, under air and in aqueous solutions, a trio of conditions that are typically forbidden in polar organometallic chemistry. Organocatalysis and highly-polar s-block organometallic chemistry (RLi) work together in water, under air and at room temperature for the selective and ultrafast synthesis of tertiary alcohols.