Cleavage of 2-Quinolinylmethyl Ethers with Copper Salts: Potential Use as a Protecting Group for Alcohols

Article abstract of DOI:10.1021/jo00306a009

A variety of 2-quinolinylmethyl ethers were efficiently cleaved by CuCl2 in DMF/H2O to regenerate the corresponding alcohols.The same cleavage also takes place with the 4-regioisomer.On the other hand, the 2- and 4-pyridinylmethyl analogues were found to be stable under these reaction conditions.A mechanistic scheme for this cleavage is proposed.