Copper(II) bromide as an efficient catalyst for the selective protection and deprotection of alcohols as bis(4-methoxyphenyl)methyl ethers

In a cheap and eco-friendly process, primary and secondary alcohols were easily protected as bis(methoxyphenyl)methyl (BMPM) ethers in good yields using CuBr2 as a catalyst in acetonitrile at room temperature. Deprotection could easily be achieved using the same catalyst but in ethanol. Both Cu-catalyzed protection and deprotection were orthogonal to other methods and fully compatible with other functional groups.