Chemoselective reduction of β-keto-esters to β-keto-alcohols
Chemoselective reduction of the ester group in keto-esters was studied.Treatment of potassium (or lithium) enolate anions of β-keto-esters with aluminium hydride reduced the ester group chemoselectvely to give β-keto-alcohols in moderate yield.Similar reactions of γ- and δ-keto-esters were not chemoselective, yielding a mixture of the diol and the keto-alcohol.Keywords - chemoselective reduction; aluminium hydride; β-keto-ester; β-keto-alcohol; potassium hydride; enolate anion.