Recent findings in our laboratory show that tributylphosphine is a potent catalyst for the acylation of representative alcohols by acetic or benzoic anhydrides. 1 Acylations using excess anhydride and 5-20 mol 5% of Bu3 catalyst in benzene or acetonitrile are comparable in rate to the analogous reactions catalyzed byp (dimethylamin0)-pyridine (DMAP). l*% In the case of benzoic anhydride, the BQP-catalyzed reaction is faster than ...
