Rapid and practical green acetylation and tetrahydropyranylation routes of structurally diverse alcohols and phenols were applied under solvent-free reaction conditions providing excellent yields, using catalytic amounts of environmentally friendly sulfonated ordered nanoporous carbon (CMK-5-SO3H). Non-toxic nature of the catalyst, its easy handling, recovery and reusability, and the absence of any solvent characterize the presented procedures as efficient methods. These procedures provide methods for the separation of the product by simple filtration.
The catalytic activity of highly thermal stable, hydrophobic, and complete heterogeneous propylsulfonic acid functionalized nanostructured SBA-15 for excellent acetylation of alcohols and phenols with acetic anhydride at ambient temperature in solvent-free conditions was examined under environmentally benign reaction conditions. The salient features of this protocol are the absence of solvent, a green experimental procedure, and simple reusability of the catalyst (at least five reaction cycles).