Titanocene-catalyzed reduction of esters using polymethylhydrosiloxane as the stoichiometric reductant

KJ Barr, SC Berk, SL Buchwald

Index: Barr, Kenneth J.; Berk, Scott C.; Buchwald, Stephen L. Journal of Organic Chemistry, 1994 , vol. 59, # 15 p. 4323 - 4326

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Citation Number: 70

Abstract

We have recently reported a titanocene-based catalytic system for the conversion of esters to primary alcohols2 which employed (EtOI3SiH as the stoichiometric reductant (Scheme 1). Catalyst generation was effected by the addition of 2 equiv of n-BuLi to 5 mol% of CpzTiCl2. Questions of cost and, more importantly, of safety3 involved with the use of (Et0) SSiH and n- BuLi, especially on a large scale, prompted us to seek more synthetically useful reagents. ...