An improved method for the chemical synthesis of RNA was developed utilizing a streamlined method for the preparation of phosphoramidite monomers and a single-step deprotection of the resulting oligoribo-nucleotide product using 1,2-diamines under anhydrous conditions. The process is compatible with most standard heterobase protection and employs a 2'-O-(1,1-dioxo-1 lambda(6)-thiomorpholine-4-carbothioate) as a unique 2'-hydroxyl protective group. Using this approach, it was demonstrated that the chemical synthesis of RNA can be as simple and robust as the chemical synthesis of DNA.