Catalysts carbonyl compound reduction

Aromatic aldehydes and ketones are reduced to the corresponding hydrocarbons in good yield by catalytic transfer reduction using cyclohexene or limonene as a donor, palladium-carbon as catalyst and a Lewis-acid promotor such as ferric chloride. The major competing reaction is decarbonylation, otherwise the reaction is straightforward and simply involves heating the catalyst, carbonyl compound, and donor under reflux for 3—5 h, furthermore the method is convenient and dispenses with elaborate equipment or potentially explosive hydro n. ... 

Addition of dihydrosilane to a, /J-unsaturated carbonyl compounds such as citral (49), followed by hydrolysis, affords saturated citroneJlal (50) directly. The reaction is used for the selective reduction of conjugated double bonds[45,46]. In addition to Pd catalyst, the use of a catalytic amount of... 

Triethylammonium formate is another reducing agent for q, /3-unsaturated carbonyl compounds. Pd on carbon is better catalyst than Pd-phosphine complex, and citral (49) is reduced to citronellal (50) smoothly[55]. However, the trisubstituted butenolide 60 is reduced to the saturated lactone with potassium formate using Pd(OAc)2. Triethylammonium formate is not effective. Enones are also reduced with potassium formate[56]. Sodium hypophosphite (61) is used for the reduction of double bonds catalyzed by Pd on charcoal[57]. 

High yields of optically active cyanohydrins have been prepared from hydrogen cyanide and carbonyl compounds using an enzyme as catalyst. Reduction of these optically active cyanohydrins with lithium aluminum hydride in ether affords the corresponding substituted, optically active ethanolamine (5) (see Alkanolamines). 

Reduction of carbonyl compounds with chiral oxazaborolidine catalysts 98AG(E)1987. 

Reduction of unsaturated carbonyl compounds to the saturated carbonyl is achieved readily and in high yield. Over palladium the reduction will come to a near halt except under vigorous conditions (73). If an aryl carbonyl compound, or a vinylogous aryl carbonyl, such as in cinnamaldehyde is employed, some reduction of the carbonyl may occur as well. Carbonyl reduction can be diminished or stopped completely by addition of small amounts of potassium acetate (i5) to palladium catalysts. Other effective inhibitors are ferrous salts, such asferroussulfate, at a level of about one atom of iron per atom of palladium. The ferrous salt can be simply added to the hydrogenation solution (94). Homogeneous catalysts are not very effective in hydrogenation of unsaturated aldehydes because of the tendencies of these catalysts to promote decarbonylation. 

Ruthenium is excellent for hydrogenation of aliphatic carbonyl compounds (92), and it, as well as nickel, is used industrially for conversion of glucose to sorbitol (14,15,29,75,100). Nickel usually requires vigorous conditions unless large amounts of catalyst are used (11,20,27,37,60), or the catalyst is very active, such as W-6 Raney nickel (6). Copper chromite is always used at elevated temperatures and pressures and may be useful if aromatic-ring saturation is to be avoided. Rhodium has given excellent results under mild conditions when other catalysts have failed (4,5,66). It is useful in reduction of aliphatic carbonyls in molecules susceptible to hydrogenolysis. 

Alkenes are reduced by addition of H2 in the presence of a catalyst such as platinum or palladium to yield alkanes, a process called catalytic hydrogenation. Alkenes are also oxidized by reaction with a peroxyacid to give epoxides, which can be converted into lTans-l,2-diols by acid-catalyzed epoxide hydrolysis. The corresponding cis-l,2-diols can be made directly from alkenes by hydroxylation with 0s04. Alkenes can also be cleaved to produce carbonyl compounds by reaction with ozone, followed by reduction with zinc metal. 

Metal-induced reductive dimerization of carbonyl compounds is a useful synthetic method for the formation of vicinally functionalized carbon-carbon bonds. For stoichiometric reductive dimerizations, low-valent metals such as aluminum amalgam, titanium, vanadium, zinc, and samarium have been employed. Alternatively, ternary systems consisting of catalytic amounts of a metal salt or metal complex, a chlorosilane, and a stoichiometric co-reductant provide a catalytic method for the formation of pinacols based on reversible redox couples.2 The homocoupling of aldehydes is effected by vanadium or titanium catalysts in the presence of Me3SiCl and Zn or A1 to give the 1,2-diol derivatives high selectivity for the /-isomer is observed in the case of secondary aliphatic or aromatic aldehydes. 

The enantioselective 1,4-addition addition of organometaUic reagents to a,p-unsaturated carbonyl compounds, the so-called Michael reaction, provides a powerful method for the synthesis of optically active compounds by carbon-carbon bond formation [129]. Therefore, symmetrical and unsymmetrical MiniPHOS phosphines were used for in situ preparation of copper-catalysts, and employed in an optimization study on Cu(I)-catalyzed Michael reactions of di-ethylzinc to a, -unsaturated ketones (Scheme 31) [29,30]. In most cases, complete conversion and good enantioselectivity were obtained and no 1,2-addition product was detected, showing complete regioselectivity. Of interest, the enantioselectivity observed using Cu(I) directly in place of Cu(II) allowed enhanced enantioselectivity, implying that the chiral environment of the Cu(I) complex produced by in situ reduction of Cu(II) may be less selective than the one with preformed Cu(I). 

Corey, E.J. Helal, C.J. (1998) Reduction of Carbonyl Compounds with Chiral Oxazaborolidine Catalysts A New Paradigm for Enantioselective Catalysis and a Powerful New Synthetic Method. Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 37, 1986-2012. 

Conversion to acetals is a very general method for protecting aldehydes and ketones against nucleophilic addition or reduction.245 Ethylene glycol, which gives a cyclic dioxolane derivative, is frequently employed for this purpose. The dioxolanes are usually prepared by heating a carbonyl compound with ethylene glycol in the presence of an acid catalyst, with provision for azeotropic removal of water. 

There are several procedures for reductive condensation of silyl ethers with carbonyl compounds to form ethers. One method uses TMSOTf as the catalyst.180... 

Reduction of carbonyl compounds can be carried out in an aqueous medium by various reducing reagents. Among these reagents, sodium borohydride is the most frequently used. The reduction of carbonyl compounds by sodium borohydride can also use phase-transfer catalysts (Eq. 8.4),10 inverse phase-transfer catalysts,11 or polyvinylpyridines12... 

Besides direct reduction, a one-pot reductive amination of aldehydes and ketones with a-picoline-borane in methanol, in water, and in neat conditions gives the corresponding amine products (Scheme 8.2).40 The synthesis of primary amines can be performed via the reductive amination of the corresponding carbonyl compounds with aqueous ammonia with soluble Rh-catalyst (Eq. 8.17).41 Up to an 86% yield and a 97% selectivity for benzylamines were obtained for the reaction of various benzaldehydes. The use of a bimetallic catalyst based on Rh/Ir is preferable for aliphatic aldehydes. 

When the conditions are controlled properly, Zn can mediate the reduction of the C-C double bond of a, (3-unsaturated carbonyl compounds in the presence of a nickel catalyst in aqueous ammonium chloride (Eq. 10.7). The use of ultrasonication enhances the rate of the reaction.15 Sodium hydrogen telluride, (NaTeH), prepared in situ from the reaction of... 

---