A mild, efficient and selective deprotection of t-butyldimethylsilyl-protected phenols using cesium carbonate

A mild and efficient method for the deprotection of aryl t-butyldimethysilyl (TBS) ethers is described. The protecting group TBS could be cleaved from aryl silyl ethers using cesium carbonate in DMF-H₂O at room temperature to give the corresponding phenols in excellent yields. The reaction conditions allowed selective deprotection of aryl TBS-protected phenols in the presence of TBS, phenyloxycarbonyl or tetrahydropyranyl-protected alcohols.     

Selective deprotection of silyl-protected phenols using solid NaOH and a phase transfer catalyst

Aryl silyl ethers can be deprotected to yield phenols in good to excellent yields using a biphasic system of 10 equivalents of NaOH and catalytic Bu₄NHSO₄ in 1,4-dioxane. Alkyl silyl ethers prepared using a variety of silyl protecting groups survive under these conditions, allowing selective deprotection of silyl-protected phenols in the presence of silyl-protected alcohols.     

An efficient and chemoselective deprotection of tert-butyldimethylsilyl (TBDMS) ethers using tailor-made ionic liquid

Phenolic tert-butyldimethylsilyl (TBDMS) ethers can be deprotected to yield phenols in excellent yield using tailor-made ionic liquid [dihexaEGim][OMs] (dihexaEGim = dihexaethylene glycolic imidazolium salt) as an organic catalyst with alkali-metal fluoride in tert-amyl alcohol. On the contrary, all TBDMS protecting groups can be cleaved cleanly from the bis-TBDMS ether using the same reaction in CH₃CN solvent instead of tert-alcohol at 100 °C. This [dihexaEGim][OMs]/tert-amyl alcohol media system allows the highly selective phenolic deprotection reaction of various bis-TBDMS ethers containing both phenolic and aliphatic TBDMS ethers to provide the corresponding phenols in high yield.     

A facile method for the rapid and selective deprotection of methoxymethyl (MOM) ethers

We describe a rapid and efficient method for selective deprotection of methoxymethyl (MOM) ethers using ZnBr₂ and n-PrSH, which completely removed MOM from diverse MOM ethers of primary, secondary, and tertiary alcohols or phenol derivatives. The deprotection takes less than ten minutes with both high yield and selectivity in the presence of other protecting groups. In addition, the rapid deprotection of MOM ethers of tertiary hydroxyls in high yield with no epimerization allows MOM to be a suitable protecting group for tertiary alcohols.     

Deprotection by electrolysis: Part I. The application of homogeneous redox catalysis to the study of the reduction of tosyl esters and amides

The mechanism of the cathodic cleavage of tosylate protecting groups from alcohols, amines and phenols in dimethylformamide has been probed using the technique of homogeneous redox catalysis. Some nine tosyl esters and six tosyl amides have been investigated and it is confirmed that these deprotection reactions occur by cleavage of the anion radicals. The formal electrode potentials for the couples, neutral molecule/anion radical, are reported and it is shown that the rate constants for the cleavage of the anion radicals lie in the range 10⁴ s^?1 to >10⁸ s^?1. Indeed for aromatic amines and phenols, the homogeneous charge transfer between the catalyst and the substrate becomes the rate determining step.     

BiOClO4-mediated deprotection of silyl ethers

TES- and TBS-protected alcohols undergo deprotection in good to excellent yield upon heating with 1 equiv of BiOClO₄-xH₂O in CH₂Cl₂. TBDPS- and TIPS-protected 2° alcohols are more resistant to deprotection. The use of this method in selective desilylation is, however, limited to the deprotection of alkyl silyl ethers in the presence of TBDPS-protected phenols.     

Novel ester linked glycosyl amino acids: convenient building blocks for the synthesis of glycopeptide libraries

The completely orthogonally protected aspartic acid derivative FmocAsp(OBn)O^tBu is readily synthesized on a large scale. Deprotection of the β-carboxylic acid allows coupling to various sugar derivatives via free hydroxyl groups to produce novel glycosyl amino acids. Subsequent deprotection of either the α-acid or nitrogen is achieved cleanly to allow elaboration into an oligopeptide, whilst selective deprotection of PMB protected sugar hydroxyls is also readily achievable. Such novel glycosyl amino acid building blocks may be useful for the combinatorial synthesis of novel glycopeptide libraries.     

CBr4-photoirradiation protocol for chemoselective deprotection of acid labile primary hydroxyl protecting groups

CBr₄-photoirradiation protocol was found to be a mild, highly efficient and selective method for deprotection of isopropylidene, benzylidene, triphenylmethyl and tert-butyldimethylsilyl protecting groups on sugar molecules. The conditions of this reaction can also be used to cleave peptides off from acid-labile resin linkers in solid-phase peptide synthesis.     

Quantum Dot-Catalyzed Photoreductive Removal of Sulfonyl-Based Protecting Groups

This Communication describes the use of CuInS₂/ZnS quantum dots (QDs) as photocatalysts for the reductive deprotection of aryl sulfonyl-protected phenols. For a series of aryl sulfonates with electron-withdrawing substituents, the rate of deprotection for the corresponding phenyl aryl sulfonates increases with decreasing electrochemical potential for the two electron transfers within the catalytic cycle. The rate of deprotection for a substrate that contains a carboxylic acid, a known QD-binding group, is accelerated by more than a factor of ten from that expected from the electrochemical potential for the transformation, a result that suggests that formation of metastable electron donor–acceptor complexes provides a significant kinetic advantage. This deprotection method does not perturb the common NHBoc or toluenesulfonyl protecting groups and, as demonstrated with an estrone substrate, does not perturb proximate ketones, which are generally vulnerable to many chemical reduction methods used for this class of reactions.     

Quantum Dot‐Catalyzed Photoreductive Removal of Sulfonyl‐Based Protecting Groups

This Communication describes the use of CuInS₂/ZnS quantum dots (QDs) as photocatalysts for the reductive deprotection of aryl sulfonyl‐protected phenols. For a series of aryl sulfonates with electron‐withdrawing substituents, the rate of deprotection for the corresponding phenyl aryl sulfonates increases with decreasing electrochemical potential for the two electron transfers within the catalytic cycle. The rate of deprotection for a substrate that contains a carboxylic acid, a known QD‐binding group, is accelerated by more than a factor of ten from that expected from the electrochemical potential for the transformation, a result that suggests that formation of metastable electron donor–acceptor complexes provides a significant kinetic advantage. This deprotection method does not perturb the common NHBoc or toluenesulfonyl protecting groups and, as demonstrated with an estrone substrate, does not perturb proximate ketones, which are generally vulnerable to many chemical reduction methods used for this class of reactions.     

Rh2(S-PTAD)4-catalyzed asymmetric cyclopropenation of aryl alkynes

Rh₂(S-PTAD)₄ is an effective catalyst for the asymmetric cyclopropenation of aryl alkynes using a siloxyvinyldiazoacetate as the carbenoid precursor. Upon deprotection of the silyl protecting group, highly enantioenriched cyclopropenes bearing geminal acceptor groups can be accessed. These cyclopropenes undergo regioselective rhodium(II)-catalyzed ring expansion to furans.     

Effective chemoselective deprotection of 3,4-dimethoxybenzyl (DMB) ethers in the presence of benzyl and p-methoxybenzyl (PMB) ethers by phenyliodine(III) bis(trifluoroacetate) (PIFA)

In this Letter, a selective deprotection of the alcohol protecting 3,4-dimethoxybenzyl (^3,4DMB) group is described. The hypervalent iodine(III) reagent phenyliodine bis(trifluoroacetate) (PIFA) is found to be an efficient reagent for the chemoselective deprotection of ^3,4DMB ethers in the presence of benzyl, p-methoxybenzyl, methoxymethyl, tert-butyldimethylsilyl, and tert-butyldiphenylsilyl ethers under mild conditions. This is the first example of the selective deprotection of the ^3,4DMB group from a hydroxy group with PIFA.     

BH3 as a protecting group for phosphonic acid: a novel method for the synthesis of dinucleoside H-phosphonate

A BH₃ group is found to be an effective protecting group for phosphonic acid esters. This new phosphonic acid protecting group was applied to the synthesis of a dithymidine H-phosphonate derivative from a dithymidine boranophosphate derivative. Triarylmethyl cations were found to be effective for the deprotection of the BH₃ group in the dithymidine boranophosphate diester to afford the corresponding H-phosphonate derivative in excellent yield.     

The elusive 8-fluoroadenosine: a simple non-enzymatic synthesis and characterization

The only successful synthesis of 8-fluoroadenosine reported until now relied on an enzymatic removal of the acetate protecting groups using thermally resistant hydrolases. In the present communication we describe the first non-enzymatic synthesis of 8-fluoroadenosine. According to this, the C₈-fluorine atom was introduced in a halogen-exchange process performed at elevated temperature. The chief obstacle in the synthesis of 8-fluoroadenosine, the removal of the protecting groups in the presence of the labile C₈-F bond, was addressed by judicious choice of acid-labile protecting groups. Their deprotection in the presence of C₈-F is described. Using this newly developed procedure, significant quantities of 8-fluoroadenosine were synthesized and, for the first time, its physicochemical properties including pH-dependent stability, examined in detail. The intermediate generation of 8-fluoroadenosines as a tool to increase the reaction rates of nucleophilic substitutions was briefly examined and successfully demonstrated with the example of 8-cyanoadenosine. The presented procedure is applicable to the synthesis of various adenosine analogs with potential pharmacological significance.     

Reductive removal of methoxyacetyl protective group using sodium borohydride

Herein, we have developed a mild and selective reductive deprotection method for the MAc protected alcohols using sodium borohydride. The new deprotection conditions provide a complete orthogonality between O-MAc and other protecting groups such as tert-butyl ester, N-Boc, Fmoc, Cbz, O-TBDMS, N-benzyl, O-benzyl, O-acetyl, N-acetyl, N-MAc, etc. In addition to O-MAc deprotection, this method is also applicable for S-MAc deprotection.     

Selective deacylation of peracylated ribonucleosides

A protocol for chemoselective deprotection of N,O-acylated ribonucleosides has been developed. Peracylated pyrimidine ribonucleosides subjected to guanidinium nitrate and NaOMe in MeOH/CH₂Cl₂ at 0 °C undergo high yielding O-deacylation, while even more pronounced chemoselectivity is observed with peracylated purine ribonucleosides as O5′-acyl groups are preserved. Nucleobase-protecting groups (A^Bz, C^Bz, G^iBu, and U^Bz) are stable to these conditions, rendering this reagent mixture as a valuable addition to the collection of protecting group protocols in nucleoside chemistry.     

Prediction of the separation of phenols by capillary zone electrophoresis

The effect of pH and ionic strength on the migration of neutral acids in capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) has been studied for several phenols. The mobilities of the phenols and the efficiency of the capillary have been related to the studied factors. The mobility can be related to the pH of the running buffer through the mobility of the phenolate ion, and the conditional acidity pK value of the phenol at the working ionic strength. This allows prediction of the migration of the phenol, solely from its pK_a^′ value (literature pK_a corrected for the ionic strength of the solution) and mobility of the anion, which can be easily calculated from the mobility at a basic pH value and the pK_a^′ value. Combination of the predicted mobility with the efficiency allows estimation of the resolution of the consecutive peaks obtained for a mixture of phenols. This method has been tested for two groups of phenols of environmental interest.     

1,3-Dipolar cycloaddition reactions on carbohydrate-based templates: synthesis of spiro-isoxazolines and 1,2,4-oxadiazoles as glycogen phosphorylase inhibitors

1,3-Dipolar cycloaddition of aryl nitrile oxides to benzyl/acetyl-protected exo-glucals and to a benzoylated glucosyl cyanide led in high yield to spiro-isoxazolines and to 3-aryl-5-glucosyl-1,2,4-oxadiazoles, respectively. The choice of the protective groups was important to the outcome of the cycloaddition and for the deprotection of the adducts. Cleavage of the ester protecting groups (acetyl, benzoyl) provided water-soluble spiro-isoxazolines and 3-aryl-5-glucosyl-1,2,4-oxadiazoles, evaluated as glycogen phosphorylase inhibitors. Preliminary tests showed IC₅₀ values in the μM range.     

Highly efficient and chemoselective cleavage of prenyl ethers using ZrCl4/NaBH4

An efficient and chemoselective deprotection of prenyl ethers of phenols and alcohols with ZrCl₄/NaBH₄ in DCM was achieved in high yields. The selectivity of prenyl ether deprotection is well demonstrated by carrying out the reaction in the presence of several other ether and ester functionalities.     

Effective protection of the N-sulfate of glucosamine derivatives with the 2,2,2-trichloroethyl group

The 2,2,2-trichloroethyl (TCE) group was utilized as the first protecting group for N-sulfates (chlorosulfuric acid TCE ester, Et₃N, DMAP, DMF). Glycosylation with 3,4,6-tri-O-acetyl-N-trichloroethylsulfuryl-α-d-glucosaminosyl trichloroacetimidate provided the corresponding β-glucosaminosides stereoselectively and in excellent yields. The TCE protection stayed stable under a variety of conditions for the manipulation of other protecting groups, and was readily removable with zinc in the presence of ammonium chloride in methanol.