Zinc borohydride-Dimethylformamide

Zinc borohydride-Dimethylformamide, Zn(BH4),1.5 DMF. This complex is obtained as a stable solid by addition of DMF to an ethereal solution of Zn(BH4),. 

The easily prepared, stable solid reagent diphenylamine-borane (Ph2NH BH8) has been shown to be more reactive than aliphatic amine-boranes and almost as reactive as borane-THF for the reduction of ketones acids are also reduced to alcohols. Polyethylene glycols (PEG) catalyse the reduction of ketones by sodium borohydride under phase-transfer (PT) conditions, for example in solid-liquid PT with PEG as solvent. The solid zinc borohydride-dimethylformamide complex reduces aldehydes and ketones to alcohols, but only one hydrogen atom from each tetrahydridoborate unit is utilized. The different rates of reduction of various classes of ketone (saturated aliphatic faster than aromatic, and a -unsaturated very slow) suggest a possible selectivity between ketones. The corresponding cadmium complex, prepared in situ, reacts similarly. Lithium methylborohydride, LiMeBHj, prepared as shown in equation (1), where... 

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