A novel one-pot catalytic synthesis of diisobomyl ether directly from camphene (1) has been developed. The reaction occurs under near ambient conditions in the presence of dissolved or silica-supported heteropoly acid H3PW12O40 (PW) as a catalyst to give diisobomyl ether (2) with up to 90% selectivity at 50-60% conversion, along with isoborneol (3). Ether 2 appears to be a new compound; it was isolated as a mixture of meso and dl stereoisomers and fully characterized by MS-GC, NMR and IR spectroscopy. The supported PW catalyst can be easily separated and reused; no PW leaching from support was observed during the reaction. Conventional acid catalysts such as H2SO4 or Amberlyst-15 showed no activity in this reaction. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.