“…Recently, owing to the convenient operation and low cost, boron trifluoride etherate has been proposed as a high-efficiency catalyst in various organic synthesis reactions, including hydroboration–oxidation, cleavage and rearrangement of epoxides, esterification, cyclization, thioketalization, and ketalization. − It was also adopted in the synthesis of distyryl ketones and chalcones under very mild conditions. ,, Unfortunately, boron trifluoride etherate is very sensitive to water, which leads to a rapid loss of catalytic activity during the reaction process. Therefore, a large amount of catalyst is needed, though this will be accompanied by unavoidable side reactions of aldehydes and ketones. ,, Inspired by those previously used dehydrators, in this work, desiccants were introduced into the Claisen–Schmidt reaction to promptly remove the water produced when using boron trifluoride etherate as the catalyst.…”