TRANSFER HYDROGENATION BETWEEN ALCOHOLS AND α,β UNSATURATED KETONES WITH RhH(PPh3)3 AS CATALYST. EVIDENCE FOR REGIOSPECIFICITY AND AN UNUSUAL RATE-LIMITING STEP

Article abstract of DOI:10.1016/S0022-328X(00)84811-1

In the hydrogen transfer between an alcohol and an α,β-unsaturated ketone with RhH(PPh3)4 as catalyst under mild conditions the breaking of the O-H bond is, unusually, the rate-determining step, and the hydroxylic hydrogen is selectively transferred to the α-carbon of the ketone.