A mild and efficient interconversion from silyl ethers to sulfonates esters is reported with good yields. This silyl-sulfonyl exchange proceeds readily in acetonitrile at room temperature in the presence of p-toluenesulfonyl fluoride and a catalytic amount of 1,8-diazabicyclo[5.4.0]undec-7ene (DBU). This method can be used with trimethysilyl (TMS), triethylsilyl (TES) and tert-butyldimethylsilyl (TBDMS) ethers.

An asymmetric organocatalysed decarboxylative protonation reaction allowed a straightforward synthesis of α-substituted isoxazolidin-5-ones from readily available 5-substituted Meldrum's acids. This process is initiated by an anionic formal (3+2) cycloaddition-fragmentation, generated in-situ from a sulfone-amide precursor which also served as a latent source of proton.