Exploration of Molybdenum(V) chloride as a Lewis acid catalyst in various C-C bond formation reactions

The catalytic activity of Molybdenum(V) chloride as a Lewis acid in carbon-carbon bond formation reactions has been described. The reactions of various substrates viz. aldehydes, benzyl alcohols, glucals and aminals with carbon nucleophiles were studied in the presence of MoCl5 as a catalyst. Progress of all the reactions proceeded smoothly to furnish the corresponding products in good yields.