In order to assess the potential of Mg(ClO 4 ) 2 , a series of preliminary experiments were carried out by adding 1 mmol of a primary alkyl alcohol (1-octanol) to 1.05 mmol of Ac 2 O containing decreasing amounts of the Lewis acid at room temperature (Table [1] ). Under these conditions, 1 mol% of Mg(ClO 4 ) 2 is sufficient to quantitatively afford the acetate in a few minutes. Even with 0.1 mol% of the catalyst the reaction goes to completion within a very ...
