Ring-opening reactions of cyclic acetals and 1,3-oxazolidines with halosilane equivalents

Reactions of acetal and 1,3-oxazolidine rings were examined using two kinds of iodosilane equivalent reagents, a 1:2 mixture of Me3SiNEt2 and MeI (reagent 1a) and a 1:1 mixture of Et3SiH and MeI containing a catalytic amount of PdCl2 (reagent 1b). In the reactions of alkanone ethylene acetals with reagent 1a, a C-O bond in the acetal ring readily cleaved to give 2-(trimethylsiloxy)ethyl enol ethers. Similarly, the C-O bond of 1,3-oxazolidine rings cleaved to give ring-opened imine or enamine derivatives. The reactions of aromatic ketone ethylene acetals and cyclohexanone trimethylene acetal led to deprotection of the acetal unit to liberate free ketones. With reagent 1b, cycloalkanone ethylene acetal afforded a dimeric product with 2-iodoethyl alkenoate moieties, while aromatic ketone ethylene or trimethylene acetals produced deprotected ketones.