Chemoselectivity hydride donor addition

Chemoselectivity of the Addition of Hydride Donors to Carbonyl Compounds... 

In the addition of hydride donors to aldehydes (other than formaldehyde) the tetrahedral intermediate is a primary alkoxide. In the addition to ketones it is a secondary alkoxide. When a primary alkoxide is formed, the steric hindrance is smaller. Also, when the C=0 double bond of an aldehyde is broken due to the formation of the CH(0 M ) group of an alkoxide, less stabilization of the C=0 double bond by the flanking alkyl group is lost than when the analogous transformation occurs in a ketone (cf. Table 9.1). For these two reasons aldehydes react faster with hydride donors than ketones. With a moderately reactive hydride donor such as NaBH4 at low temperature one can even chemoselectively reduce an aldehyde in the presence of a ketone (Figure 10.6, left). 

---