The presence of a pyridine base has been found to affect the outcome of the oxidation of alcohols with 4-acetylamino-2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxoammonium tetrafluoroborate (1). Previous studies have shown that alcohols having an oxygen atom at the beta-position are oxidized very slowly by 1; however, in the presence of pyridine, the oxidation proceeds smoothly to give the dimeric ester. It has been found that the presence of a more sterically hindered pyridine base in the oxidation medium leads to clean formation of the aldehyde. The effect of a sterically hindered pyridine base on the oxidation of primary alcohols by 1 appears to be a general phenomenon and aldehydes are the exclusive products of such oxidations. The procedure should prove useful for the oxidation of alcohols containing acid sensitive functional groups. Examples of this chemistry will be discussed.