Acetylation of alcohols catalyzed by dodeca-tungsto(molybdo)phosphoric acid

Acetylation of primary, secondary, and tertiary alcohols was carried out in some refluxing alkyl acetates and in two carboxylic acids with the participation of catalytic amounts of H3PW12O40, H3PMo12O40, and H14P5W30O110 with good yields and high stereo(regio)specificity under mild reaction condition. H3PW12O40 and H3PMo12O40 have also shown excellent reactivity in the formylation of 1-butanol with ethyl formate at room temperature and in short reaction times. Heteropolyacid catalysts could be separated after a simple work up and reused for several times.