Detritylation procedure under non-acidic conditions: Naphthalene catalysed reductive cleavage of trityl ethers

The reaction of primary, secondary, allylic and benzylic trityl ethers 1 with lithium powder and a catalytic amount of naphthalene led to reductive cleavage of the trityl-oxygen bond, affording the corresponding alcohols 2 in good to excellent yields under very mild reaction conditions. The detritylation process could successfully be extended to several hydroxy, alkoxy and amino functionalised trityl ethers. This methodology represents a new and efficient detritylation procedure under non-acidic reaction conditions.