An efficient protection of carbonyls and deprotection of acetals using decaborane

Carbonyls were efficiently converted to the corresponding dimethyl acetals at room temperature using trimethyl orthoformate and 1 mol% of decaborane under a nitrogen atmosphere. In turn. acetals ere deprotected to the corresponding carbonyls using 1 mol% of decaborane in aqueous THF chemoselectively. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.