Cobalt(II) Chloride Hexahydrate-Diisopropylamine Catalyzed Mild and Chemoselective Reduction of Carboxylic Esters with Sodium Borohydride

摘要

The cobalt-catalyzed reduction of unsaturated alpha-cyano carboxylic esters using sodium borohydride (NaBH_4) leads to the corresponding saturated cyano alcohols in high yields. In particular, the new catalytic system cobalt(II) chloride-diisopropylamine in combination with NaBH_4 showed excellent activity in the chemoselective reduction of a variety of carboxylic esters to their corresponding alcohols in good to excellent yields under mild conditions.Sodium borohydride (NaBH4) is a mild, inexpensive yet powerful reducing agent capable of reducing a wide range of functional groups, such as aldehydes, ketones, and im-ines.