An Efficient Oxone-Mediated Esterification of Aldehydes Using Indium(III) Triflate

In the periodic table of elements, indium is located within group 13, and has the atomic number 49. Indium is classified as one of the chemical elements of post-transition metals. Indium is silvery-white in color, soft, and possesses a high level of malleability. Although indium is a relatively rare element, it is indispensable in industry applications worldwide. German metallurgists discovered indium in 1863. It was not until the early 1990s, however, that scientists in the field of synthetic organic chemistry attempted genuine studies to explore the roles of indium or indium-related reagents. Focusing on indium or indium-related reagents, many recent investigations have led to significant advances in synthetic organic chemistry. Various applications have been examined and a growing number of useful chemical transformations using indium or indium-related reagents are being revealed and reported. Chemical transformations of the reactive functional groups are an essential point, particularly for the successful implementation of a sequence of multiple-step chemical schemes. For this purpose, a variety of strategic reaction methodologies have been developed, including those utilizing indium or indium-related reagents. Indium metal was discovered to be useful for the protection and deprotection of functional groups, while trivalent indium Lewis acids have been effective in a wide variety of chemical transformations. This chapter describes an efficient oxone-mediated esterification of aldehydes using indium(III) triflate, which is also one of the trivalent indium Lewis acids. Esterification is performed primarily on aromatic and heterocyclic aldehydes. The results show the effectiveness of this esterification methodology and suggest the potential in the further development of these reagents, which could enhance the field of synthetic organic chemistry.