title: Reductions of aldehydes and ketones with a readily available N-heterocyclic carbene borane and acetic acid.
abstract: Acetic acid promotes the reduction of aldehydes and ketones by the readily available N-heterocyclic carbene borane, 1,3-dimethylimidazol-2-ylidene borane. Aldehydes are reduced over 1-24 h at room temperature with 1 equiv of acetic acid and 0.5 equiv of the NHC-borane. Ketone reductions are slower but can be accelerated by using 5 equiv of acetic acid. Aldehydes can be selectively reduced in the presence of ketones. On a small scale, products are isolated by evaporation of the reaction mixture and direct chromatography.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260 USA.
authors.forename: Vladimir
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Lamm
authors.forename: Xiangcheng
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.forename: Tsuyoshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Taniguchi
authors.forename: Dennis P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Curran
keywords: N-heterocyclic carbene borane; NHC-borane; reduction