Reduction of Carbonyl Compounds with Supported Gold Catalysts

Significance

Reduction of carbonyl compounds with a TiO₂-supported Au catalyst (Au/TiO₂) was performed under transfer hydrogenation conditions using i-PrOH to afford the corresponding alcohols in 31-99% conversion with 86-100% selectivities. In the reduction of acetophenone, the catalyst was recovered by simple filtration and reused four times without significant loss of catalytic activity (98.5% conversion, 100% selectivity for 4^th reuse run). When 4-nitroacetophenone was used as a substrate, hydrogenation of the nitro group occurred to give 4-aminoacetophenone in 99% yield.