Silica functionalized sulfonic acid as a recyclable interphase catalyst for chemoselective thioacetalization of carbonyl compounds in water

Silica functionalized sulforric acid which can be prepared by simple procedure using commercially available and relatively cheap starting materials, efficiently acts as highly active and reusable catalyst for thioacetalization of a variety of carbonyl compounds in water. The catalyst shows high thermal stability (up to 300 degrees C) and can be recovered and reused for at least five reaction cycles without loss of reactivity under the described reaction conditions. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.