The N-carbobenzoxy group of p-nitrophenyl esters of N-carbobenxoxyamino acids and N- carbobenzoxy peptides can be removed by catalytic hydrogenation in the presence of 1 equiv of hydrochloric acid without noticeable reduction of the nitro group. This method can be used for preparing oligo peptides by Goodman's" backingoff" procedure and for preparing polyamino acids and sequential polypeptides when the t-butyl ester groups are ...