Collins oxidation

[5] Although difficult, it was beneficial at the time because it provided an alternative to the Sarett oxidation, that used pyridine as a solvent.

[5] A safer variant of the Collins oxidation was discovered in 1970 by Ratcliffe and Rodehorst.

[5] However, as the complexity of the substrates increases, the usefulness of the Collins oxidation decreases because it lacks the selectivity that other reagents have.

[5] One of the main uses of the Collins oxidation is the transformation of alkenes to enones by adding carbonyl groups to allylic positions.

While this process is very slow, it allows for alcohols to be oxidized to aldehydes or ketones without alkene interference.