Albright–Goldman oxidation

The Albright–Goldman oxidation is a name reaction of organic chemistry, first described by the American chemists J. Donald Albright and Leon Goldman in 1965.

[1] The reaction is particularly suitable for the synthesis of aldehydes from primary alcohols.

Analogously, secondary alcohols can be oxidized to form ketones.

The following figure shows the reaction mechanism:[2] First, dimethyl sulfoxide (1) reacts with acetic anhydride to form a sulfonium ion.

The latter reacts upon elimination of acetic acid and dimethyl sulphide to the aldehyde.