An Eco-Sustainable Erbium(III)Triflate Catalyzed Formation and Cleavage of tert-ButylEthers

An eco-compatible method, which permits the formation or cleavage of tert-butyl ethers of alcohols and phenols, is proposed. The protection step is performed in solvent-free conditions at room temperature using catalytic amount of Er(OTf) 3 . The catalyst is easily recovered from the aqueous phase and reused several times without significant loss of activity. The deprotection step developed is also highly eco-friendly since the tert-butyl group is removed very quickly from alcohols and phenols in methanol using MW irradiation.