Light-driven MPV-type reduction of aryl ketones/aldehydes to alcohols with isopropanol under mild conditions

Abstract

Alcohols are versatile structural motifs of pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals and fine chemicals. With respect to green chemistry, the development of more sustainable and cost-efficient processes for converting ketones/aldehydes to alcohols is highly desired. Herein, a direct light-driven strategy for reducing ketones/aldehydes to alcohols using isopropanol as the reducing agent and solvent, in the presence of t-BuOLi, under an air atmosphere at room temperature is developed. This operationally simple light-promoted Meerwein–Ponndorf–Verley (MPV) type reduction can be used to produce various benzylic alcohol derivatives as well as applied to bioactive molecules and PEEK model compounds, demonstrating its application potential.