Mesoporous aluminosilicate-catalyzed allylation of carbonyl compounds and acetals

A mesoporous aluminosilicate (Al-MCM-41) was found to be an effective heterogeneous catalyst for the reaction of both carbonyl compounds and acetals with allylsilanes to afford the corresponding homoallyl silyl ethers and homoallyl alkyl ethers, respectively. Both the mesoporous structure and the presence of aluminum moiety were indispensable for the high catalytic activity of Al-MCM-41. Moreover, Al-MCM-41 could catalyze the reaction of acetals chemoselectively in the presence of the corresponding carbonyl compounds. The solid acid catalyst Al-MCM-41 could be recovered easily by filtration and could be reused three times without a significant loss of catalytic activity.