Fe3O4@SiO2-imid-PMAn as a Novel, Efficient and Reusable Magnetic Nanocatalyst for the Chemoselective Preparation and Deprotection of 1,1-Diacetates

Abstract

Fe3O4@SiO2-imid-PMAn efficiently catalyzed the conversion of aromatic, heteroaromatic, and aliphatic aldehydes to 1,1-diacetates under solvent-free conditions at room temperature. Deprotection of the resulting 1,1-diacetates can also be achieved using the same catalyst in methanol. The acylation of aldehydes was highly chemoselective, and no ketone was acylated, which provided a method for the synthesis of acylals from aldehydes in the presence of ketones. Therefore, this method gives notable advantages such as excellent chemoselectivity, mild reaction condition, short reaction times and excellent yield. Also, nanocatalyst can be easily recovered by a magnetic field and is reusable without efficient loss of its catalytic activity.