Photocatalytic dehydrative etherification of alcohols with a nanoporous gold catalyst.

A simple and efficient photocatalytic approach for dehydrative etherification of alcohols has been developed by a nanoporous gold catalyst. This protocol features no requirement of addition of acids or bases, broad substrate generality, and excellent acid-sensitive functional group tolerance. The mechanistic studies demonstrate the heterogeneous nature of the catalytic system and the recyclability of the catalyst was demonstrated repeatedly.