Cobalt(II) acetylacetonate catalyzed Friedel–Crafts acylation of anisole, thioanisole, and toluene

A new highly efficient catalytic procedure for the Friedel–Crafts acylation of electron rich aromatics is reported. Cobalt(II) acetylacetonate catalyses the acylation of anisole, thioanisole, and toluene with a variety of acyl chlorides in nitromethane and acetonitrile under mild conditions. The catalyst is found to be reusable and the acylation is regioselective, and affords exclusively C-4 acylated products in excellent yields.