Hydrosilane-Promoted Facile Deprotection of tert-Butyl Groups in Esters, Ethers, Carbonates, and Carbamates

Combination of PdCl2 with 1,1,3,3-tetramethyldisiloxane in the presence of activated carbon was found to be an effective catalyst system for the cleavage reaction of C-O bond of O-t-Bu moieties. The present catalytic reaction offers a practical method for the deprotection of tert-butyl esters, tert-butyl ethers, O-Boc, and N-Boc derivatives under mild conditions. The addition of activated carbon in the reaction mixture was proved to be crucial for not only sustaining the catalytic activity but also trapping the palladium species after the reaction.