Abstract
A novel approach has been developed for the synthesis of a wide range of α-ketoacetals by the reaction of alkyl/aryl methyl ketones and aliphatic alcohols in the presence of selenium dioxide catalyzed by p-toluenesufonic acid. This method represents a general route to obtain a wide variety of α-ketoacetals in a simple, rapid, and practical manner. This approach is particularly attractive because of the easy availability of the starting materials, mild reaction temperature, and good yields of the products. The resulting α-ketoacetals are of much synthetic value as organic intermediates.