Journal of the American Chemical Society, Vol.139, No.30, 10224-10227, 2017
Reductive Etherification via Anion-Binding Catalysis
Reductive condensations of alcohols with aldehydes/ketones to generate ethers are catalyzed by a readily accessible thiourea organocatalyst that operates in combination with HCl. 1,1,3,3-tetramethyldisiloxane serves as a convenient reducing reagent. This strategy is applicable to challenging substrate combinations and exhibits functional group tolerance. Competing reductive homocoupling of the carbonyl component is suppressed.