Effective chemoselective deprotection of 3,4-dimethoxybenzyl (3,4DMB) ethers in the presence of benzyl and p-methoxybenzyl (PMB) ethers by phenyliodine(III) bis(trifluoroacetate) (PIFA)

In this Letter, a selective deprotection of the alcohol protecting 3,4-dimethoxybenzyl (3,4DMB) group is described. The hypervalent iodine(III) reagent phenyliodine bis(trifluoroacetate) (PIFA) is found to be an efficient reagent for the chemoselective deprotection of 3,4DMB ethers in the presence of benzyl, p-methoxybenzyl, methoxymethyl, tert-butyldimethylsilyl, and tert-butyldiphenylsilyl ethers under mild conditions. This is the first example of the selective deprotection of the 3,4DMB group from a hydroxy group with PIFA.