Facile acetal dynamic combinatorial library

We herein report our first results on the use of simple acetalation chemistry in the service of dynamic combinatorial libraries (DCLs); the reaction between triethylene glycol and 4-nitro-benzaldehyde afforded a DCL of more than 15 cyclic and acyclic species; all of which were separated and characterized; the smaller macrocyclic compounds were successfully amplified by the use of ammonium ions.