Mild and efficient rhodium-catalyzed deoxygenation of ketones to alkanes

Gilles Argouarch (1)

1 ISCR - Institut des Sciences Chimiques de Rennes

A new and simple method for the deoxygenation of ketones to alkanes is presented. Most substrates are reduced under mild conditions by triethylsilane in the presence of catalytic amounts of [Rh(-Cl)(CO)2]2. This system selectively provides the methylene hydrocarbons in good to excellent yields starting from acetophenones and diaryl ketones. A rapid examination of the reaction pathway suggests that the ketone is first converted in alcohol which then undergoes hydrogenolysis to give the alkane.

Domaines: Chimie organique; Catalyse

Gilles Argouarch. Mild and efficient rhodium-catalyzed deoxygenation of ketones to alkanes. New Journal of Chemistry, 2019, 43 (28), pp.11041-11044. ⟨10.1039/c9nj02954k⟩. ⟨hal-02278412⟩