VO(acac)2/H2O2/NaI: a mild and efficient combination for the cleavage of dithioacetal derivatives of sugars

A wide variety of dithioacetal derivatives of sugars can be cleaved easily into the corresponding open-chain aldehydo sugars using an efficient combination of VO(acac)2/H2O2/NaI at 0–5 °C. Some of the salient features of this protocol are mild reaction conditions, good yields, short reaction times, easy work-up procedures, and non-involvement of toxic chemicals.