Esterification of alkene with cerium(IV) sulfate in carboxylic acid

Abstract

Reaction of alkenes [cyclohexene (1), cycloheptene (2), cyclooctene (3), 1-heptene (4), 1-octene (5), styrene (6), 1,7-octadiene (7), indene (8), and 1,2-dihydronaphthalene (9)] with cerium(IV) sulfate (CS) in carboxylic acids [formic acid, acetic acid, and propionic acid] readily yielded the corresponding carboxylic esters. This addition reaction follows the Markovnikov rule. This reaction provides a new simple method for preparing carboxylic esters from alkenes. It was also found that this method is useful for formylation.