I. Solvent-free oxidation of primary ARYL alcohols to aldehydes, and, II. Conversion of primary amide to nitrile using silicon tetrachloride as the dehydrating agent

The oxidation of primary aryl alcohols to aldehydes plays a central role in organic chemistry. Various methods have been developed to accomplish this transformation. The only drawback is that all these reactions require the use of solvents. A solvent-free process would be highly desirable not only from an environmental standpoint but also from an economic one. A solvent-free oxidation of primary aryl alcohols to aldehydes is done using catalytic amounts of Trition-X 405 and high oxidation metals like potassium permanganate and potassium dichromate.; The dehydration of primary amides to nitriles is well known. Most of the reagents used make it difficult to isolate the product because of the byproducts formed. Silicon tetrachloride is a reagent not used as a dehydrating agent but theoretically it could act as a dehydrating agent. The byproduct for silicon tetrachloride would be silicon dioxide which can be easily removed via filtration. The formation of nitriles utilizing silicon tetrachloride as a dehydrating agent is reported.