Hydrogen transfer reduction of different ketones in ionic liquids

Ionic liquids were tested as the reaction media for hydrogen transfer reduction of substituted acetophenones and some other ketones with the [RuCl(TsDPEN)]₂ complex as the catalyst. Reactions were going well and faster than in common solvents. Corresponding alcohols had high ees in the case of aryl alkyl ketones, but just medium ees were reached in the case of dialkyl or unsaturated ketones. An interesting phenomenon was observed, namely that rise of the reaction temperature did not have negative influence on the ee of the reaction product. Correspondence: Štefan Toma, Faculty of Natural Science, Comenius University Bratislava, SK-84215 Bratislava, Slovakia.