Desilylation of t-butyldimethylsilyl ethers of hydroxyquinones

Desilylation of a series of hydrolytically stable hydroxyquinone t-butyldimethylsilyl ethers was achieved in high yields by the use of potassium fluoride in the presence of catalytic amounts of aqueous 48% hydrobromic acid (HBr), or basic aluminium oxide (Al₂O₃), and tetra-n-butylammonium fluoride (Bu₄NF) as cleaving agents. Copyright © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.