Environmentally benign metal triflate-catalyzed reductive cleavage of the C-O bond of acetals to ethers

摘要

A protocol is described for the reductive cleavage of the C-O bond of aromatic and aliphatic acetals to ethers catalyzed by Cu(OTf)2 or Bi(OTf)3 at room temperature in excellent yields, without affecting aromatic rings, nitro, nitrile, ester and hydroxyl groups. This protocol represents an improvement in terms of atom economy compared to the previous methods, by distinctly decreasing the amount of the reducing reagent, 1,1,3,3-tetramethyldisiloxane (TMDS), and using a small amount of catalyst.