Regioselective Benzylation of Diols and Polyols by Catalytic Amounts of an Organotin Reagent

An efficient one‐pot method for the selective benzylation of diols and polyols using 0.1 equiv. of organotin reagents and tetrabutylammonium bromide as catalyst has been developed. The diols and polyols containing a cis ‐vicinal diol were regioselectively benzylated in 70–94% isolated yields. A catalytic reaction mechanism was also proposed. magnified image