Herein we report the site-selective silylation of the ribonucelosides. The method enables a simple and efficient procedure for accessing suitably protected monomers for automated RNA synthesis. Switching to the opposite enantiomer of the catalyst allows for the selective silylation of the 3′-hydroxyl, which could be used in the synthesis of unnatural RNA or for the analoging of ribonucelosides. Lastly, the procedure was extended to ribavirin a potent antiviral therapeutic.
![Practical Silyl Protection of Ribonucleosides](https://www.iciq.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Practical-Silyl-Protection_ol-2013-02023c_0007.gif)