12-Tungstophosphoric acid supported on inorganic oxides as heterogeneous and reusable catalysts for the selective preparation of alkoxymethyl ethers and their deprotections under different reaction conditions

A wide variety of primary and secondary alcohols were efficiently converted to their corresponding methoxymethyl (MOM) and ethoxymethyl (EOM) ethers in the presence of catalytic amounts of supported H₃PW₁₂O₄₀ on silica gel and zirconia at room temperature and under microwave irradiation at solvent-free conditions, whereas, phenols and tertiary alcohols remained intact under the same reaction conditions. Deprotection of these ethers to their parent alcohols was also achieved using these heterogeneous catalysts in ethanol, as a green solvent, under reflux conditions and microwave irradiation. Selective deprotection of primary and secondary MOM- and EOM-ethers in the presence of phenolic and tertiary ones, methyl and benzyl ethers, esters and trimethylsilyl ethers was achieved by these reagent systems. The present methodology offers several advantages such as short reaction times, high yields, simple procedure, heterogeneous reaction conditions, selectivity, non-toxicity and reusability of the catalysts.