Calcium chloride dihydrate can be used as a catalyst:
- In the asymmetric 1,4-addition and [3+2]-cycloaddition reactions in the presence of box-type ligands.
- To synthesize hexahydropyrimidine derivatives via a one-pot three-component condensation reaction of ethyl/methyl acetoacetate, aniline, and formaldehyde.
It can also be used as a calcium precursor to synthesize macro/mesoporous dicalcium phosphate monolith (CaHPO
4) via the sol-gel method using phosphoric acid (H
3PO
4), and poly(acrylic acid) (PAA).