Selective Cleavage of Benzoxazoles to o-Hydroxy-N-Substituted Anilines with Sodium Borohydride-Acetic Acid

Abstract

The utility of sodium borohydride in the presence of acetic acid in efficiently and selectively cleaving substituted benzoxazoles to o-hydroxy-N-substituted anilines in the presence of other functional groups is described. These conditions offer practical advantages over existing ring opening procedures with normally resistant benzoxazoles.