A visible light-driven, copper-catalyzed aerobic oxidativecleavage of cycloalkanones has been presented. A variety of cycloalkanones with varying ring sizes and various α-substituents reacted well to give the distal keto acids or dicarboxylic acids with moderate to good yields.
A novel selective fragmentation of cycloalkanones by NaNO2/HCl has been established. The C–Cbond cleavage reaction proceeds smoothly under mild conditions, selectively affording versatile keto acids or oxime acids. The methodology can streamline the synthesis of valuable chiral molecules and isocoumarins from readily available feedstocks.