Nanoporous Na-Montmorillonite Perchloric Acid as an Efficient and Recyclable Catalyst for the Chemoselective Protection of Hydroxyl Groups.

Nanoporous Na-montmorillonite perchloric acid as a novel heterogeneous reusable solid acid catalyst was easily prepared by treatment of Na-montmorillonite as a cheap and commercially available support with perchloric acid. The catalyst was characterized using a variety of techniques including X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), pH analysis and determination of the Hammett acidity function. The prepared reagent showed excellent catalytic activity for the chemoselective conversion of alcohols and phenols to their corresponding trimethylsilyl ethers with 1,1,1,3,3,3-hexamethyldisilazane (HMDS) at room temperature. Deprotection of the resulting trimethylsilyl ethers can also be carried out using the same catalyst in ethanol. All reactions were performed under mild and completely heterogeneous reaction conditions in good to excellent yields. The notable advantages of this protocol are: short reaction times, high yields, availability and low cost of the reagent, easy work-up procedure and the reusability of the catalyst during a simple filtration.