A new reagent (silver salt - iodine) system was developed for the depr
otection of monothioacetals and dithioacetals. The reactions using thi
s reagent system afforded the parent carbonyl compounds in moderate to
quantitative yields under mild conditions. These deprotections were a
lso effective in the catalytic amount of this reagent. As an applicati
on of this deprotective reagent system, synthesizing optically active
alpha-hydroxyaldehyde using chiral 1,3-oxathiane was demonstrated.