Tetrabutylammonium periodate is able to oxidize alcohols to their carbonyl compounds, alpha-hydroxy ketones to alpha-diketones, alpha-hydroxy carboxylic acids to the carbonyl compounds (accompanied with decarboxylation), thiols to disulfides, thioethers to sulfoxides in CHCl3 and CH3CN in the presence of AlCl3 and BF3 . Et(2)O as catalysts.