The nature of the Friedel-Craft reaction, especially the acylation, forces the AlCl3 to irreversibly complex with any oxygen-containing group in the product, with the only way of decomplexing it being to destroy the AlCl3 part with water altogether.
[5] Some reactions require a mixed solvent, such as aqueous formaldehyde, although Kobayashi et al. have developed alternative surfactant-water systems.
[6] Michael additions are another very important industrial method for creating new carbon-carbon bonds, often with particular functional groups attached.
La(OTf)3 catalysts not only enable these reactions to be carried out in water, but can also achieve asymmetric catalysis, yielding a desired enantio-specific or diastereo-specific product.
[5] Lanthanide triflates can be used to synthesize pyridine by catalysing either the condensation of aldehydes and amines, or the aza Diels-Alder reaction catalytic synthesis.