A mild and efficient method for the deprotection of trimethyl silyl alkynes using sodium ascorbate and copper sulphate European Journal of Chemistry 9 (4) (2018) 317-321 European Journal of Chemistry View Journal Online View Article Online A mild and efficient method for the deprotection of trimethyl silyl alkynes using sodium ascorbate and copper sulphate Ranjith Siddaraj 1, Raghu Ningegowda 1, Nanjunda Swamy Shivananju 2 and Babu Shubha Priya 1,* 1 Department of Studies in Chemistry, University of Mysore, Manasagangotri, Mysore 570006, Karnataka, India ranjithsiddaraj@yahoo.co.in (R.S.), raghu.ningegowda80@gmail.com (R.N.), priyabs_chem@yahoo.com (B.S.P.) 2 Department of Biotechnology, Sri Jayachamarajendra College of Engineering, JSS Technical Institutions Campus, Mysore 570006, Karnataka, India nanju_chem@yahoo.com (N.S.S.) * Corresponding author at: Department of Studies in Chemistry, University of Mysore, Manasagangotri, Mysore 570006, Karnataka, India. Tel: +91.821.2419448 Fax: +91.821.2419363 e-mail: priyabs_chem@yahoo.com (B.S. Priya). 10.5155/eurjchem.9.4.317-321.1729 Received: 03 May 2018 Received in revised form: 02 July 2018 Accepted: 08 July 2018 Published online: 31 December 2018 Printed: 31 December 2018 A competent and fast method for the deprotection of trimethyl silyl group was attained by using cheap, easily accessible, and nontoxic sodium ascorbate in combination with copper sulphate. The method labored was simple and effective for the cleavage of trimethyl silyl group from the protected trimethyl silyl alkynes to their corresponding alkyne derivatives. Wide functional group tolerance, shorter time period, simple procedure and high yields are the striking features of this protocol. Deprotection Ethanol-water Copper sulphate Protecting group Sodium ascorbate Trimethyl silyl alkyne Cite this: Eur. J. Chem. 2018, 9(4), 317-321 Journal website: www.eurjchem.com 1. Introduction Development of mild, efficient and selective route for the protection of variety of functional groups and then de- protection of the protected derivatives continues to be a great challenge in synthetic organic chemistry of polyfunctional molecules including total synthesis of significant natural products [1]. Thus, a number of protecting groups have been developed along with numerous methods for their removal. Protection and de-protection protocols using silyl protecting groups are among the most widely used methods of temporarily masking alkynes, alcohols and phenols [2]. A variety of methods are available for the conversion of alkynes to their trimethyl silyl alkynes derivatives and to de-protect these derivatives to the parent alkyne [3,4]. In the course of the studies on the synthesis of interesting biological natural products, a mild, fast and efficient method was required for the selective removal of protecting groups without affecting the other functional group. The rate of hydrolysis of trimethyl silyl (TMS) group is influenced by both steric and electronic outcome [5]. Electron withdrawing group increases the rate of basic hydrolysis, and decreases the rate of acidic hydrolysis [6,7]. Many reports says that TMS acetylenes can also be cleaved very conveniently and selectively with fluoride ions especially tetrabutylammonium fluoride [8-14], potassium fluoride in dimethyl formamide [15-19], trimethylamine hydro fluoride in pyridine [20-24] and hydrogen fluoride in methanol or acetonitrile [25-29]. Using these methods, the TMS group can often be removed selectively in the presence of other more bulky trialkyl silyl groups [30,31]. In this article, we wish to report the highly efficient and mild procedure for the de-protection of TMS group attached alkynes using sodium ascorbate and copper sulphate without affecting other functional groups. 2. Experimental 2.1. Instrumentation Melting points stated were determined in open capillary and are uncorrected. ABSTRACT RESEARCH ARTICLE KEYWORDS European Journal of Chemistry ISSN 2153-2249 (Print) / ISSN 2153-2257 (Online) – Copyright © 2018 The Authors – Atlanta Publishing House LLC – Printed in the USA. This work is published and licensed by Atlanta Publishing House LLC – CC BY NC – Some Rights Reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.5155/eurjchem.9.4.317-321.1729 http://dx.doi.org/10.5155/eurjchem.9.4.317-321.1729 https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.5155/eurjchem.9.4.317-321.1729&domain=pdf&date_stamp=2018-12-31 http://www.eurjchem.com/ http://dx.doi.org/10.5155/eurjchem.9.4.317-321.1729 mailto:ranjithsiddaraj@yahoo.co.in mailto:raghu.ningegowda80@gmail.com mailto:priyabs_chem@yahoo.com mailto:nanju_chem@yahoo.com mailto:priyabs_chem@yahoo.com http://www.eurjchem.com/ https://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.5155/eurjchem.9.4.317-321.1729&domain=pdf&date_stamp=2018-12-31� 318 Siddaraj et al. / European Journal of Chemistry 9 (4) (2018) 317-321 R TMS Sodium ascorbate CuSO4, Ethanol-Water R 1 2a-m RT, stirring, 5-15 min Scheme 1. Synthesis of silyl alkynes. The structures of the newly synthesized compounds were established using 1H NMR, 13C NMR and LC-MS data. FTIR Spectra were recorded on Jasco FT-IR Spectrometer, 1H NMR and 13C NMR were recorded in CDCl3 at 399.65 MHz and 100.50 MHz, respectively, on Bruker model Avance II Spectrometer. All the chemical shifts were stated in parts per million (ppm). LC-MS were documented using Waters Alliance 2795 separations module and Waters Micromass LCT mass detector. The purity of the compound was confirmed by TLC on pre-coated silica gel plate and additional purification was done using column chromatography. 2.2. Synthesis Trimethyl silyl acetylene derivatives (0.1 mol) were dissol- ved in ethanol:water (5:5, v:v) system, to this mixture sodium ascorbate (0.3 mol) and copper sulphate (0.1 mol) were added at room temperature. Reaction mixture was stirred at room temperature for 5-15 min. Completion of the reaction was monitored by TLC. Ethyl acetate was added and extracted twice with ethyl acetate. Organic layer was washed with brine, dried over MgSO4, filtered and concentrated in rotatory evaporator under vacuum to get crude compound which was purified by performing flash column chromatography using silica gel and 6-10 % ethyl acetate in hexane (Scheme 1, Table 1) 4-Ethynylbenzaldehyde (2a): Color: Off white solid. Yield: 91%. M.p.: 90-91 °C. 1H NMR (400 MHz, CDCl3, δ, ppm): 3.30 (s, 1H, CH), 7.64 (d, 2H, J = 8.4 Hz, Ar-H), 7.85 (d, 2H, J = 8.8 Hz, Ar-H), 10.02 (s, 1H, Ar-CHO). 13C NMR (100 MHz, CDCl3, δ, ppm): 191.6 (1C, CHO), 136.0 (1C, Ar-C), 132.8 (1C, Ar-C), 129.6 (1C, Ar-C), 128.4 (1C, Ar-C), 82.7 (1C, C-CH), 81.2 (1C, C- CH). MS (m/z): 130.9 (M+). Anal. calcd. for C9H6O: C, 83.06; H, 4.65; O, 12.29. Found: C, 83.1; H, 4.60; O, 12.20%. 1-(4-Ethynylphenyl) ethanone (2b): Color: Pale yellow solid. Yield: 95%. M.p: 69-70 °C. 1H NMR (400 MHz, CDCl3, δ, ppm): 2.61 (s, 3H, CH3), 3.26 (s, 1H, CH), 7.58 (d, 2H, J = 8.8 Hz, Ar-H), 7.91 (d, 2H, J = 8.8 Hz, Ar-H). 13C NMR (100 MHz, CDCl3, δ, ppm): 197.4 (1C, COCH3), 136.8 (1C, Ar-C), 132.4 (1C, Ar-C), 128.3 (1C, Ar-C), 127.0 (1C, Ar-C), 82.9 (1C, C-CH), 80.5 (1C, C- CH), 26.8 (3C, CH3). MS (m/z): 144.9 (M+). Anal. calcd. for C10H8O: C, 83.31; H, 5.59; O, 11.10. Found: C, 83.28; H, 5.51; O, 11.2%. 4-Ethynylnitrobenzene (2c): Color: Pale yellow solid. Yield: 96%. M.p.: 149-150 °C. 1H NMR (400 MHz, CDCl3, δ, ppm): 3.37 (s, 1H, CH), 7.64 (d, 2H, J = 8.8 Hz, Ar-H), 8.20 (d, 2H, J = 9.2 Hz, Ar-H). 13C NMR (100 MHz, CDCl3, δ, ppm): 133.1 (1C, Ar-C), 129.0 (1C, Ar-C), 123.7 (1C, Ar-C), 82.5 (1C, C-CH), 81.7 (1C, C- CH). MS (m/z): 147.9 (M+). Anal. calcd. for C8H5NO2: C, 65.3; H, 3.43; N, 9.52. Found: C, 65.0; H, 3.45; N, 9.55%. 4-Ethynylbenzonitrile (2d): Color: Off white solid. Yield: 93%. M.p.: 155-156 °C. 1H NMR (400 MHz, CDCl3, δ, ppm): 3.31 (s, 1H, CH), 7.57 (d, 2H, J = 8.8 Hz, Ar-H), 7.63 (d, 2H, J = 8.4 Hz, Ar-H). 13C NMR (100 MHz, CDCl3, δ, ppm): 132.8 (1C, Ar-C), 132.1 (1C, Ar-C), 127.1 (1C, Ar-C), 118.4 (1C, CN), 112.4 (1C, Ar-C), 82.0(1C, C-CH), 81.7(1C, C-CH). MS (m/z): 127.8 (M+). Anal. calcd. for C9H5N: C, 85.02; H, 3.96; N, 11.02. Found: C, 83.5; H, 3.8; N, 10.9%. 4-Ethynylpyridine (2e): Color: Off white solid. Yield: 91%. M.p: 95-96 °C. 1H NMR (400 MHz, CDCl3, δ, ppm): 3.31 (s, 1H, CH), 7.35 (dd, J = 4.4 Hz, J = 1.6 Hz, 2H, Ar-H), 8.60 (dd, J = 4.4 Hz, J =1.6 Hz, 2H, Ar-H). 13C NMR (100 MHz, CDCl3, δ, ppm): 149.9 (1C, Ar-C), 130.4 (1C, Ar-C), 126.2 (1C, Ar-C), 82.0 (1C, C- CH), 81.0 (1C, C-CH). MS (m/z): 103.8 (M+). Anal. calcd. for C7H5N: C, 81.53; H, 4.89; N, 13.58. Found: C, 83.5; H, 4.9; N, 13.3%. 2-Ethynylpyridine (2f): Color: Brown solid. Yield: 93%. M.p.: 123-124 °C. 1H NMR (400 MHz, CDCl3, δ, ppm): 3.17 (s, 1H, CH), 7.27 (dd, J = 7.6 Hz, J = 4.8 Hz, 1H, Ar-H), 7.49 (d, 1H, J = 7.6 Hz, J =0.8 Hz, Ar-H), 7.67 (dd, 1H, J = 7.6 Hz, J = 1.6 Hz, Ar- H), 8.60 (dd, 1H, J = 4.8 Hz, J = 0.8 Hz, Ar-H). 13C NMR (100 MHz, CDCl3, δ, ppm): 150.1 (1C, Ar-C), 142.4 (1C, Ar-C), 136.3 (1C, Ar-C), 127.6 (1C, Ar-C), 123.5 (1C, Ar-C), 82.8 (1C, C-CH), 77.2 (1C, C-CH). MS (m/z): 103.9 (M+). Anal. calcd. for C7H5N: C, 81.53; H, 4.89; N, 13.58. Found: C, 83.0; H, 4.55; N, 13.20%. 5-Ethynylpyrimidine (2g): Color: Off white solid. Yield: 71%. M.p.: 75-76 °C. 1H NMR (400 MHz, CDCl3, δ, ppm): 3.42 (s, 1H, CH), 8.83 (s, 2H, Ar-H), 9.18 (s, 1H, Ar-H). 13C NMR (100 MHz, CDCl3, δ, ppm): 159.4 (2C, Ar-C), 157.4 (1C, Ar-C), 118.9 (1C, Ar-C), 84.6 (1C, C-CH), 77.0 (1C, C-CH). MS (m/z): 104.9 (M+). Anal. calcd. for C6H4N2: C, 69.22; H, 3.87; N, 26.91. Found: C, 69.25; H, 3.85; N, 26.5%. 3-Ethynyl-2-methylpyridine (2h): Color: Off white solid. Yield: 87%. M.p.: 126-127 °C. 1H NMR (400 MHz, CDCl3, δ, ppm): 2.67 (s, 3H, CH3), 3.28 (s, 1H, CH), 7.08-7.05 (m, 1H, Ar- H), 7.69 (d, 1H, J = 7.6Hz, Ar-H), 8.41 (d, 1H, J = 4.2 Hz, Ar-H). 13C NMR (100 MHz, CDCl3, δ, ppm): 160.3 (1C, Ar-C), 148.3 (1C, Ar-C), 138.9 (1C, Ar-C), 128.8 (1C, Ar-C), 116.8 (1C, Ar-C), 75.0 (1C, C-CH), 69.6 (1C, C-CH), 26.0 (1C, CH3). MS (m/z): 117.8 (M+). Anal. calcd. for C8H7N: C, 82.02; H, 6.02; N, 11.96. Found: C, 81.50; H, 6.20; N, 11.50%. 3-Ethynylquinoline (2i): Color: Pale brown solid. Yield: 76%. M.p.: 123-124 °C. 1H NMR (400 MHz, CDCl3, δ, ppm): 3.28 (s, 1H, CH), 7.60 (t, 1H, J = 7.56 Hz, Ar-H), 7.80-7.72 (m, 2H, Ar- H), 8.11 (d, 1H, J = 8.4 Hz, Ar-H), 8.30 (s, 1H, Ar-H), 8.95 (d, 1H, J = 1.4 Hz, Ar-H). 13C NMR (100 MHz, CDCl3, δ, ppm): 153.6 (1C, Ar-C), 148.2 (1C, Ar-C), 139.3 (1C, Ar-C), 129.9 (1C, Ar-C), 128.9 (1C, Ar-C), 128.3 (1C, Ar-C), 127.0 (1C, Ar-C), 125.9 (1C, Ar-C), 114.6 (1C, Ar-C), 75.0 (1C, C-CH), 69.6 (1C, C-CH). MS (m/z): 154.1 (M+). Anal. calcd. for C11H7N: C, 86.25; H, 4.61; N, 9.14. Found: C, 86.10; H, 4.65; N, 8.90%. 3-Ethynylpyridine (2j): Color: Pale yellow solid. Yield: 97 %. M.p.: 118-119 °C. 1H NMR (400 MHz, CDCl3, δ, ppm): 3.51 (s, 1H, CH), 7.07-7.04 (m, 1H, Ar-H), 7.69 (d, J = 7.6 Hz, 1H, Ar-H), 8.41 (d, J = 4.3 Hz, 1H, Ar-H), 8.69 (s, 1H, Ar-H). 13C NMR (100 MHz, CDCl3, δ, ppm): 150.8 (1C, Ar-C), 149.3 (1C, Ar-C), 139.7 (1C, Ar-C), 123.4 (1C, Ar-C), 116.4 (1C, Ar-C), 75.0 (1C, C-CH), 69.6 (1C, C-CH). MS (m/z): 104.1 (M+). Anal. calcd. for C7H5N: C, 81.53; H, 4.89; N, 13.58. Found: C, 83.0; H, 4.71; N, 13.2%. 5-Ethynylpicolinonitrile (2k): Color: Pale yellow solid. Yield: 98%. M.p.:119-120 °C. 1H NMR (400 MHz, CDCl3, δ, ppm): 8.73 (s, 1H, Ar-H), 7.85-7.83 (m, 1H, Ar-H), 7.64 (d, J = 8.04 Hz, 1H, Ar-H), 3.52 (s, 1H, CH). 13C NMR (100 MHz, CDCl3, δ, ppm): 153.5 (1C, Ar-C), 140.3 (1C, Ar-C), 133.3 (1C, Ar-C), 128.9 (1C, Ar-C), 121.0 (1C, Ar-C), 117.1 (1C, Ar-C), 75.0 (1C, C- 2018 – European Journal of Chemistry – CC BY NC – DOI: 10.5155/eurjchem.9.4.317-321.1729 Siddaraj et al. / European Journal of Chemistry 9 (4) (2018) 317-321 319 Table 1. Deprotection of trimethyl silyl alkynylbenzene derivatives. Compound Substrate Product Reaction period (min) Yield (%) * M.p. (°C) 2a TMS O O 5 91 90-91 2b TMS O O 5 95 69-70 2c TMS NO2 NO2 10 96 149-150 2d TMS CN CN 15 93 155-156 2e N TMS N 5 87 95-96 2f N TMS N 5 93 123-124 2g N N TMS N N 10 71 75-76 2h N TMS N 10 87 126-127 2i N TMS N 10 76 123-124 2j N TMS N 10 97 118-119 2k N TMS CN N CN 15 98 119-120 2l N TMS NO2 N NO2 15 87 127-128 2m N TMS O N O 15 79 122-123 * Isolated yield. CH), 69.6 (1C, C-CH). MS (m/z): 129.1 (M+). Anal. calcd. for C8H4N2: C, 74.99; H, 3.15; N, 21.86. Found: C, 74.5; H, 3.20; N, 21.60%. 5-Ethynyl-2-nitropyridine (2l): Color: Pale yellow solid. Yield: 87%. M.p.: 127-128 °C. 1H NMR (400 MHz, CDCl3, δ, ppm): 3.56 (s, 1H, CH), 8.05-8.02 (m, 1H, Ar-H), 8.23 (d, 1H, J = 9.16 Hz, Ar-H), 8.66 (s, 1H, Ar-H). 13C NMR (100 MHz, CDCl3, δ, ppm): 156.7 (1C, Ar-C), 152.5 (1C, Ar-C), 144.2 (1C, Ar-C), 124.0 (1C, Ar-C), 117.1 (1C, Ar-C), 75.0 (1C, C-CH), 69.6 (1C, C- CH). MS (m/z): 149.1 (M+). Anal. calcd. for C7H4N2O2: C, 56.76; H, 2.72; N, 18.91. Found: C, 56.62; H, 2.80; N, 18.70%. 5-Ethynylpicolinaldehyde (2m): Color: Off white solid. Yield: 79% yield. M.p.: 122-123 °C. 1H NMR (400 MHz, CDCl3, δ, ppm): 3.45 (s, 1H, CH), 7.689 (d, J = 8.04 Hz, 1H, Ar-H), 7.91- 7.88 (m, 2H, Ar-H), 8.78 (s, 1H, Ar-H). 13C NMR (100 MHz, CDCl3, δ, ppm): 192.6 (1C, C=O), 152.8 (1C, Ar-C), 152.2 (1C, Ar-C), 140.0 (1C, Ar-C), 121.5 (1C, Ar-C), 120.3 (1C, Ar-C), 75.0 (1C, C-CH), 69.6 (1C, C-CH). MS (m/z): 132.1 (M+). Anal. calcd. for C8H4N2: C, 73.27; H, 3.84; N, 10.68. Found: C, 73.10; H, 3.70; N, 10.50%. 3. Results and discussion From side to side, this research paper account for the mild reaction condition to deprotect trimethyl silyl group attached to alkynes selectively without disturbing other functional groups 2018 – European Journal of Chemistry – CC BY NC – DOI: 10.5155/eurjchem.9.4.317-321.1729 320 Siddaraj et al. / European Journal of Chemistry 9 (4) (2018) 317-321 Table 2. Evaluation of reaction conditions and yield of product with reported methods with the present method. Entry Catalyst Conditions Time Yield (%)* Reference 1 AgCl or AgI catalyst CH2Cl2:MeOH:H2O (7:4:1, v:v:v), Room temperature 40 hr 3-5 [32] 2 AgBF4 catalyst CH2Cl2:MeOH:H2O (7:4:1, v:v:v), Room temperature 40 hr 3 [32] 3 AgNO3 catalyst CH2Cl2:MeOH:H2O (7:4:1, v:v:v), Room temperature 5.5-23 hr 79 [32] 4 AgOTf catalyst CH2Cl2:MeOH:H2O (7:4:1, v:v:v), Room temperature 2.5-9.0 hr 86 [32] 5 Na2S Dry methanol, 0 °C to Room temperature 30 min 77 [33] 6 K2CO3 MeOH:THF (3:1, v:v), Room temperature 20 hr 55 [34] 7 DBU MeCN:H2O (19:1, v:v), 60 °C 0.5-6.0 hr 93-99 [35] 8 Cu(MeCN)4PF6 / AgBF4 CH2Cl2:MeOH (5:5, v:v), 25-35 °C 18-72 hr 75-98 [36] 9 KF.2H2O DMF, Room temperature 8 hr 75-80 [37] 10 KF Tetra ethylene glycol, Room temperature 5 min-20 hr 80-99 [38] Table 3. Influence of solvent on the synthesis of 5-ethynylpicolinonitrile (2k) a. Entry Solvent Time Yield (%) b 1 Solvent free 4 hr 0 2 Dichloromethane 4 hr 5 3 Ethanol 4 hr 66 4 Methanol 4 hr 65 5 Tetrahydrofuran 4 hr 20 6 Dimethyl formamide 4 hr 22 7 Acetonitrile 4 hr 15 8 Water:Dimethyl formamide (5:5, v:v) 30 min 65 9 Water:Tetrahyrofuran (5:5, v:v) 50 min 56 10 Water:Acetonitrile (5:5, v:v) 45 min 51 11 Water:Methanol (5:5, v:v) 25 min 85 12 Water:Ethanol (5:5, v:v) 15 min 98 13 Water 4 hr 20 a Sodium ascorbate (0.3 mol) and copper sulphate (0.1 mol) were used beside solvent at room temperature. b Reactions were monitored by TLC and stated were isolated yield. Table 4. Optimisation of reaction condition for the synthesis of 5-ethynylpicolinonitrile (2k). Entry Sodium ascorbate (mol) Copper sulphate (mol) Ethanol (mL) Water (mL) Time Yield (%) * 1 0.1 0.0 5 5 4 hr 0 2 0.1 0.1 5 5 1 hr 40 3 0.2 0.1 5 5 30 min 80 4 0.3 0.1 5 5 10-15 min 98 5 0.4 0.1 5 5 10-15 min 98 6 0.4 0.2 5 5 10-15 min 98 7 0.0 0.1 5 5 4 hr 0 8 0.3 0.1 10 0 4 hr 66 9 0.3 0.1 0 10 4 hr 25 10 0.3 0.1 2 8 10-15 min 75 11 0.3 0.1 3 7 10-15 min 90 12 0.3 0.1 4 6 10-15 min 95 13 0.3 0.1 6 4 10-15 min 95 * Isolated yield. using sodium ascorbate and copper sulphate in ethanol and water system. We have established a new protocol which looks much better than others in terms of time, cost effectiveness, selectivity and yield (Scheme 1). Series of trimethyl silyl alkynes were prepared by using standard conditions, which upon deprotection given corresponding alkynes (Table 1, Entry 2a-m). Initially, we have performed reaction on our model subst- rate 5-ethynylpicolinonitrile (Table 1, Entry 2k) to deprotect the trimethyl silyl group of using tetrabutyl ammonium fluoride in tetrahydrofuran. As we have expected, there was a formation of product but along with that there was a forma- tion of other prominent side products which ultimately led to the decrease in yield of the reaction. We have suspected that the other prominent side product may be due the participation of nitrile group present in the second position (Table 1, Entry 2k) and the characterization is under progress. This strange result forced us to do few more reactions with other functional group containing silyl alkynes (Table 1, Entry 2a, 2b, 2c, 2d, 2l and 2m) under the same condition, no wonder we had same results. We have even tried the same by taking 5-ethynylpicolinonitrile (Table 1, Entry 2k) using different procedures (Table 2, Entry 1-10), but all were in vain especially when it comes to time and yield factor. It was a eureka moment for us, when we have tried the deprotection of 5-ethynylpicolinonitrile with our new app- roach using sodium ascorbate and copper sulphate in water:ethanol system. In this method, luckily functional groups remained unaffected. To verify this procedure further and to try it out with different possible solvents first we have attempted to do reactions using 0.3 mol sodium ascorbate and 0.1 mol copper sulphate under solvent free (Table 3, Entry 1) followed by non-polar aprotic organic solvents (Table 3, Entry 2), polar aprotic organic solvents (Table 3, Entry 5, 6 and 7) and protic organic solvents (Table 3, Entry 3 and 4). In all these cases reactions were very sluggish (Table 3, Entry 1 and 2), yield was moderate (Table 3, Entry 5, 6, 7, 9 and 10) and time consuming (Table 3, Entry 3, 4 and 8). Since both the reagents used were inorganic we have tried employing water and conducted reactions using mixture of solvent (Table 3, Entry 8-13). The best results were obtained when 0.3 mol sodium ascorbate, 0.1 mol copper sulphate and ethanol-water system were used (Table 3, Entry 12). Again to decide the effect of concentration of sodium ascorbate and copper sulphate, reaction with mere sodium ascorbate and reaction with mere copper sulphate were tried but the reaction was not successful even after 4 hr (Table 4, Entry 1 and 7). This indicated that both the reagents are important for the reaction to occur. After conducting many experiments we found that 0.3 mol of sodium ascorbate and 0.1 mol of copper sulphate given very good yield of 98% yield (Table 4, Entry 4). With further increase in sodium ascorbate 2018 – European Journal of Chemistry – CC BY NC – DOI: 10.5155/eurjchem.9.4.317-321.1729 Siddaraj et al. / European Journal of Chemistry 9 (4) (2018) 317-321 321 (0.4 mol) and copper sulphate (0.2 mol) yield and time remain unaltered (Table 4, Entry 5 and 6). On the other hand, when we tried to modify the ratio of solvents, found that only water as solvent has given only 25% of yield in 4 hr (Table 4, Entry 9) while only ethanol as solvent managed to give 66% (Table 4, Entry 3). Using a mixture ethanol and water in 5:5 (v:v) ratio finest results were produced in shorter time frame (Table 4, Entry 12). In this context, we were pleased to find that silyl alkynes were cleaved exclusively, without affecting other functionality, at room temperature. Compared to the protocols reported to date, cleavage of particular functional group in any substrate containing many functional groups leads to unwanted side products but our method is remarkably mild and selective. 4. Conclusion In summary, we developed a mild and efficient protocol for the deprotection of silyl alkynes using sodium ascorbate in combination with copper sulphate in ethanol and water system. A wide range of silyl alkynes can be selectively cleaved with high yield even in the presence of acid and base labile functional groups. Moreover, silyl alkyne was cleaved exclusively, without affecting the other functionality, at room temperature. The advantages of this procedure over the previously reported processes include its simplicity and the clean and rapid reaction it promotes. Therefore, we believe that this protocol will find wide applications in the synthesis of complex molecules. Disclosure statement Conflict of interests: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest. Author contributions: All authors contributed equally to this work. Ethical approval: All ethical guidelines have been adhered. Sample availability: Samples of the compounds are available from the author. ORCID Ranjith Siddaraj http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4780-9144 Raghu Ningegowda http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4817-4061 Nanjunda Swamy Shivananju http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5494-9428 Babu Shubha Priya http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1110-0771 Reference [1]. Hajipur, A. R.; Mallapour, S. E.; Baltork, I. M. P. Indian J. Chem. 2002, 41, 1251-1256. [2]. Wuts, P. G. M.; Greene, T. W., Protective Groups in Organic Synthesis, 4th edition, John Wiley & Sons, 2007. [3]. Haiying J.; Guohua G. Arkivoc 2009, 12, 261-280. [4]. Pierce, A. E., Silylation of Organic Compounds, Pierce Chemical Co., 1968. [5]. Look, G. V.; Simchen, G.; Heberle, J., Silylating Agents, 2nd Edition, Fluka Chemicals, 1995. [6]. Blau, K.; King, G. S., Handbook of derivatives for Chromatography, Heyden & Son Ltd., London, 1977. [7]. Blau, K.; Halket, J., Handbook of derivatives for Chromatography, 2nd Edition, John Wiley & Son, 1993. [8]. Knapp, D. R., Handbook of analytical derivatization reactions, John Wiley & Sons, 1979. [9]. Colvin, E. W., Silicon in Organic Synthesis, Butterworth, 1981. [10]. Greene, T. W., Protective Groups in Organic Synthesis, Wiley- Interscience, 1981. [11]. Greene, T. W.; Wuts, P. G. M., Protective Groups in Organic Synthesis, 2nd Edition, Wiley-Interscience, 1991. [12]. Cooper, B. E. Chem. Ind. 1978, 20, 794-797. [13]. Brownbridge, P. Synthesis 1983, 2, 85-104. [14]. Lalonde, M.; Chan, T. H. Synthesis 1985, 9, 814-845. [15]. Olsson, L. I. Acta Pharm. Suec. 1986, 23, 370-385. [16]. Kuwajima, I.; Nakamura, E. Acc. Chem. Res. 1985, 18, 181-187. [17]. Lukevics, E. Russ. Chem. Rev. 1974, 43, 140-154. [18]. Shirai, N.; Moriya, K.; Kawazoe, Y. Tetrahedron 1986, 42, 2211-2214. [19]. Kawazoe, Y.; Nomura, M.; Kondo, Y.; Kohda, K. Tetrahedron Lett. 1987, 28, 4307-4310. [20]. Voaden, D. J.; Waters, R. M. Org. Prep. Proced. Int. 1976, 8, 227-230. [21]. Kierzek, R. Nucleosides Nucleotides 1985, 4, 641-649. [22]. Jung, M. E. J. Org. Chem 1976, 41, 1479-1480. [23]. Jung, M. E.; Speltz, L. M. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1976, 98, 7882-7884. [24]. Pinnick, H. W.; Laujis, N. H. J. Org. Chem. 1978, 43, 371-372. [25]. Hergott, H. H.; Simchen, G. Liebigs Ann. Chem. 1980, 11, 1718-1721. [26]. Cooper, B. E.; Westall, S. J. Organomet. Chem. 1976, 118, 135-138. [27]. Kita, Y.; Haruta, J.; Segawa, J.; Tamura, Y. Tetrahedron Lett. 1979, 20, 4311-4314. [28]. Murata, S.; Noyori, R. Tetrahedron Lett. 1980, 21, 767-768. [29]. Piekos, P. J. Chromatogr. 1976, 116, 315-320. [30]. Aizpurua, J. M.; Palomo, C. Synthesis 1982, 8, 684-687. [31]. Tanabe, Y.; Murakami, M.; Kitaichi, K.; Yoshida, Y. Tetrahedron Lett. 1994, 35, 8409-8412. [32]. Orsini, A.; Viterisi, A.; Bodlenner, A.; Weibel, J. M.; Pale, P. Tetrahedron Lett. 2005, 46, 2259-2262. [33]. Ishita, H.; Raja, M.; Kalyan, S.; Amit, B. Tetrahedron Lett. 2015, 56, 4275-4279. [34]. Shultz, D. A.; Gwaleney, K. P. J. Org. Chem. 1998, 63, 4034-4038. [35]. Yeom, C. E.; Kim, M. J.; Choi, W.; Kim, B. M. Synlett. 2008, 4, 565-568. [36]. Aucagne, V.; Leigh, D. A. Org. Lett. 2006, 8, 4505-4507. [37]. Slutsky, M. M.; Phillip, J. S.; Tew, G. N. New J. Chem. 2008, 32, 670-675. [38]. Fletcher, J. T.; Walz, S. E.; Keeney, M. E. Tetrahedron Lett. 2008, 49, 7030-7032. Copyright © 2018 by Authors. This work is published and licensed by Atlanta Publishing House LLC, Atlanta, GA, USA. The full terms of this license are available at http://www.eurjchem.com/index.php/eurjchem/pages/view/terms and incorporate the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial (CC BY NC) (International, v4.0) License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0). By accessing the work, you hereby accept the Terms. This is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the CC BY NC License, which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited without any further permission from Atlanta Publishing House LLC (European Journal of Chemistry). No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms. Permissions for commercial use of this work beyond the scope of the License (http://www.eurjchem.com/index.php/eurjchem/pages/view/terms) are administered by Atlanta Publishing House LLC (European Journal of Chemistry). 2018 – European Journal of Chemistry – CC BY NC – DOI: 10.5155/eurjchem.9.4.317-321.1729 http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4780-9144 http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4817-4061 http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5494-9428 http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1110-0771 http://www.eurjchem.com/index.php/eurjchem/pages/view/terms http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0 http://www.eurjchem.com/index.php/eurjchem/pages/view/terms 1. Introduction 2. Experimental 2.1. Instrumentation 2.2. Synthesis 3. Results and discussion 4. Conclusion Disclosure statement ORCID Reference PrintField10: PrintField11: PrintField12: PrintField13: PrintField14: PrintField20: PrintField21: PrintField22: PrintField23: PrintField24: