Efficient dealkylation of aryl alkyl ethers catalyzed by Cu2O

An efficient protocol for dealkylation of aryl alkyl ethers under the catalysis of inexpensive and easily reusable Cu 2 O has been described. The phenol products were obtained in high yields, and a range of functional groups were well tolerated. The choice of solvent is critical to the catalysis, and CH 3 OH proved to be the optimal choice. Mechanistic investigations showed that this reaction possibly proceeds via a single-electron transfer (SET) process.