Esterification of carboxylic acids catalyzed by in situ generated tetraalkylammonium fluorides

Esterification of carboxylic acids with alkyl halides can be efficiently catalyzed by tetrabutylammonium fluoride (TBAF) generated in Situ from tetrabutylammonium hydrogensulfate (TBAHSO(4)) and KF . 2H(2)O in THF. The general applicability and the characteristic feature of this approach has been amply demonstrated. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.