Aerobic oxidation of electron-rich benzylic and phenyl allylic alcohols was achieved with high yields with only 0.1 mol.% ofPd(OAc)2 catalyst in the absence of any ligand. This procedure was expected to be valuable for realistic industrial-scale applications from both economic as well as environmental points of view.(C) 2006 Qing Xiang Guo. Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Chinese Chemical Society. All rights reserved.