Rare earth (III) perfluorooctanesulfonates catalyzed synthesis of α-hydroxy-arylacetic acids from aryl methyl ketones in fluorous media

Ytterbiurn perfluorooctanesulfonate (Yb(OPf)(3)) catalyzes the high efficient synthesis of alpha-hydroxy-arylacetic acids from aryl methyl ketones in the presence Of SeO2 in fluorous media. By simple separation, fluorous phase containing only catalyst can be used several times. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.