Uses
Cerium(III) chloride can be used as a starting point for the preparation of other cerium salts, such as the Lewis acid, cerium(III) trifluoromethanesulfonate, used for Friedel-Crafts acylations. It is also used itself as a Lewis acid, for example as a catalyst in Friedel-Crafts alkylation reactions.
Luche reduction of alpha, beta-unsaturated carbonyl compounds has become a popular method in organic synthesis, where CeCl3.7H2O is used in conjunction with sodium borohydride. For example carvone gives only the allylic alcohol 1 and none of the saturated alcohol 2. Without CeCl3, a mixture of 1 and 2 is formed.
Another important use in organic synthesis is for alkylation of ketones which would otherwise form enolates if simple organolithium reagents were to be used. For example, compound 3 would be expected to simply form an enolate without CeCl3 being present, but in the presence of CeCl3 smooth alkylation occurs:
It is reported that organolithiums work more effectively in this reaction than do Grignard reagents.
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