A novel practical cleavage of tert-butyl esters and carbonates using fluorinated alcohols

Thermolytic cleavage of t-butyl esters and t-butyl carbonates was accomplished using TFE (2,2,2-trifluoroethanol) or HFIP (hexafluoroisopropanol) as solvent. Thus, a practical method to cleanly convert t-butyl esters and carbonates into the corresponding carboxylic acids, decarboxylated products, or alcohols in nearly quantitative yields was developed. The product is recovered by a simple solvent evaporation. The practicality of this methodology was demonstrated on alkyl, aryl, and heteroaromatic esters.