Synthesis 2004(4): 496-498  
DOI: 10.1055/s-2004-815941
SHORTPAPER
© Georg Thieme Verlag Stuttgart · New York

Er(OTf)3 as a Mild Cleaving Agents for Acetals and Ketals

Renato Dalpozzoa, Antonio De Ninoa, Loredana Maiuoloa, Monica Nardia, Antonio Procopio*b, Antonio Tagarellia
a Dipartimento di Chimica Università della Calabria, Ponte Bucci, 87030, Arcavacata di Rende (CS), Italy
b Dipartimento Farmaco-Biologico, Università degli Studi della Magna Graecia, Complesso Ninì Barbieri, Roccelletta di Borgia (CZ), Italy.
Fax: +39(984)492055.; e-Mail: procopio@unicz.it.;
Further Information

Publication History

Received 17 December 2003
Publication Date:
03 February 2004 (online)

Abstract

Er(OTf)3 is proposed as a very gentle Lewis acid catalyst in a chemoselective method for the cleavage of alkyl and cyclic acetals and ketals at room temperature in wet nitromethane is presented.

9

All the chemicals were purchased from commercial sources besides the protected ketals 16-19 in Table [2] , which were synthesized according the trivial literature methods. [2c]

10

Er(OTf)3 can be purchased from Aldrich e41.00 for 5g (0.008 mol) meanwhile, the prices of Sc(OTf)3 and Yb(OTf)3 sold by Aldrich are e206.4 for 5 g (0.01 mol) and e79 for 5 g (0.008 mol), respectively.