Cerium ammonium nitrate (CAN) removed hydroxyethyl units from 2-hydroxyethyl ethers and 2-hydroxyethyl amines to produce alcohols and amines in good yields. Especially, removal of the 2-hydroxyethyl ethers from C2-symmetric diols, chiral 2, 3-butanediol and chiral hydrobenzoin, was very useful for asymmetric syntheses using C2-symmetric diols. The reactions using dual abilities of CAN, ie, the ability for removal of the 2-hydroxyethyl ...