Identify the major product of the following reaction:

Step-by-step solution

The given reaction is a Baeyer-Villiger oxidation, where a ketone reacts with a peroxy acid (m-CPBA) to form an ester. The mechanism involves the nucleophilic attack of the peroxy acid on the carbonyl carbon to form a tetrahedral Criegee intermediate. The original carbonyl oxygen (labeled as ¹⁸ O ) becomes a hydroxyl group in this intermediate: R ₂ C =¹⁸ O R ' CO ₃ H R ₂ C (¹⁸ OH )( O - O - CO - R ') Next, one of the aryl groups migrates to the peroxy oxygen, accompanied by the cleavage of the O - O bond and the re