Acylative Dimerization of Tetrahydrofuran Catalyzed by Rare‐Earth Triflates

Abstract

Ytterbium, scandium, and lanthanum triflates catalyze the cleavage reactions of cyclic ethers to give various products. Most notable was the acylative cleavage of tetrahydrofuran with acetic anhydride catalyzed by Yb(triflate)₃ to give the dimeric compound CH₃CO₂(CH₂)₄O(CH₂)₄OCOCH₃ in 69% yield.

Keywords:

• Lewis acids
• Tetrahydrofuran
• Rare‐earth triflates

Acknowledgments

We gratefully acknowledge the generous financial support of Lafayette's Committee on Advanced Study and Research in the form of stipends under the EXCEL Scholar program to DAR, ST, and RLG. We gratefully acknowledge a grant from the Kresge Foundation for the purchase of a 400 MHz NMR spectrometer.