Selective Protection of Secondary Alcohols by Using Formic Acid as a Mild and Efficient Deprotection Reagent for Primary tert-Butyldimethylsilyl Ethers

Abstract

A mild, efficient, and environmentally friendly method for the selective protection of secondary hydroxyl groups is described. The method involves the protection of both primary and secondary hydroxyl groups as tert-butyldimethylsilyl (TBDMS) ethers and selective deprotection of the primary TBDMS group with formic acid in acetonitrile/water. The rates of desilylation of primary and secondary TBDMS ethers by different concentrations of formic acid are determined. Formic acid of 5–20% concentration is found to selectively deprotect primary TBDMS ethers while keeping more than 95% of their secondary counterparts intact.