Reduction of Carbonyl Compounds by Catalytic Hydrogen Transfer from 1,4-Butanediol

Abstract

Hydrogen transfer from appropriate hydrogen donors to unsaturated substrates catalysed by transition metal complexes offers some advantages over hydrogenation with molecular hydrogen [1], These reactions have been carried out mainly with stoichiometric or excess amounts o f primary or secondary alcohols [2-7], hydroaromatic com pounds [8] and formic acid [9] as hydrogen donors. Although bis primary diols exhibit relatively high propensity for hydrogen donation [10, 11], little attention has been paid to the em ployment of these com pounds as the source of hydrogen in hydrogenation reactions. The aim of the present investigation was to examine the potential use of 1,4-butanediol as the source of hydrogen in the catalytic reduction of carbonyl com pounds, using ruthenium (II) complexes as homogeneous catalysts.