Silica gel supported AlCl3 catalyzed Friedel-Crafts acylation of aromatic compounds

Silica gel supported aluminium trichloride (SiO2-AlCl3) has been shown to be a mild, efficient, and chemoselective heterogeneous Lewis acid catalyst for the acylation of aromatic compounds with acid chlorides. The catalyst can be reused up to five times after simple washing with ether and is stable (as a bench top catalyst).