A mild and efficient approach for the selective deprotection of benzyl and phenyl trimethylsilyl ethers in 1-butyl-3-methyl-imidazolium chloride

1-Butyl-3-methyl-imidazolium chloride (bmim]Cl) in the absence of any catalyst mediated the selective deprotection of benzyl and phenyl trimethylsilyl (TMS) ethers to the corresponding alcohols and phenol in good yields at room temperature even in presence of alkyl silyl ethers. The work-up of reactions is very simple and the products do not require further purification. The ionic liquid (IL) can be recycled and reused for several runs without any significant loss of activity.