Aluminium Chloride Hexahydrate (AlCl3 · 6H2O): An Efficient, Facile, Mild, And Highly Chemoselective Catalytic Deprotection of Tert-Butyldimethylsilyl (TBS) Ethers

Abstract tert-Butyldimethylsilyl (TBS) phenyl / alkyl ethers were cleaved to the corresponding efficiently parent hydroxyl compounds in good yields using catalytic amounts of AlCl3 · 6H2O by conventional or microwave-assisted heating in methanol or isopropanol solution. Intramolecular and competitive experiments demonstrated the chemoselective deprotection of TBS ethers in the presence of triisopropylsilyl and tert-butyldiphenylsilyl ethers. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT