Facile cleavage of triethylsilyl (TES) ethers using o-iodoxybenzoic acid (IBX) without affecting tert-butyldimethylsilyl (TBS) ethers.

[reaction: see text] In DMSO cleavage of triethylsilyl (TES) ethers by o-iodoxybenzoic acid (IBX) was significantly faster than cleavage of tert-butyldimethylsilyl (TBS) ethers or further oxidation into carbonyl compounds. In most cases, TES protecting groups could be removed in good to excellent yields within 1 h, whereas similar TBS protecting groups remained intact under the same conditions. The procedure also could be adapted for direct one-pot conversion of TES ethers into carbonyl compounds.