Application of the catalytic Friedel-Crafts acylation reaction and regioselectivity correlations

A correlation was found between electronic properties and regioselectivity in the Friedel-Crafts reaction of substituted phenylacetic and benzoic acids with anisole, utilising substoichio-metric (down to 1 mol%) amounts of catalyst. Relative reactivities of selected catalysts for this reaction were also studied.