Oxidative decarboxylation of an sp3-hybridized carbon from phenylacetic acid using cheap Cu(Ⅱ)salts as the catalyst without added ligands and using dioxygen as the terminal oxidant were found in our research group.These reactions proceed via a subsequence of decarboxylation and formation of carboxide from benzylmathylene,then readily generate the important class of compounds in organic synthesis and pharmaceutical chemistry,such as aldehydes or ketones,1 primary benzamides,2 benzonitriles,3 and 2-aryl benzothiazole4 etc.Among the reactions,molecular oxygen acts as both oxidant and reactant.As it is well-known,dioxygen is an ideal terminal oxidant because of its abundance,inexpensiveness,and high atom efficiency.And as efficient catalysts,copper salts are much less expensive,and has much lower toxicity comparing to other precious transition metals such as Pd,Pt,Ni etc.Moreover,no added ligands and additives are needed.Therefore,these reactions not only have profound significance in academic research but also greatly improve applications in industry.