Preparation of acetals from aldehydes and alcohols under basic conditions.

A new, simple protocol for the synthesis of acetals under basic conditions from non-enolizable aldehydes and alcohols has been reported. Such reactivity is facilitated by a sodium alkoxide along with a corresponding trifluoroacetate ester, utilizing formation of sodium trifluoroacetate as a driving force for acetal formation. The usefulness of this protocol is demonstrated by its orthogonality with various acid-sensitive protecting groups and by good compatibility with functional groups, delivering synthetically useful acetals complementarily to the synthesis under acidic conditions from aldehydes and alcohols.