Catalytic application of fluorous silica gel in Fries rearrangement

• Unmodified fluorous silica gel (FSG) was discovered as an efficient catalyst in Fries rearrangement.
• A reusable fluorous catalyst system with the advantages of being commercially available was employed.
• Ease of work-up, high recovery, low cost of procedure, and simplicity were the other advantages.

Commercially available fluorous silica gel (Fluoro Flash™) with no further post-modification was successfully investigated and applied merely as a catalyst in Fries rearrangement of various aryl esters under solvent free conditions in 4 h and optimized temperatures. In addition to good yields and recyclability of the catalyst, toxicity of reaction medium, by-products, and wastes were minimized. Also, low catalyst loading was another advantage of this methodology.

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