Selective synthesis of arylacetic acid esters from ethyl acetoacetate and aryl halides in the presence of copper(II) on 4 Å molecular sieves.

A heterogeneous catalyst, copper(II) on 4 Å molecular sieves has successfully been used in the arylation of ethyl acetoacetate, selectively forming arylacetic esters in high yields. The air stable and easily handled catalyst can be simply filtered off during purification thus avoiding significant metal contamination of the product. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]