| Summary: | A new catalytic system for transfer hydrogenation of carbonyl compounds using glucose as a hydrogen donor was developed. Various ketones and aldehydes were efficiently converted to corresponding alcohols with two equivalents of glucose in the presence of a small amount (0.1 to 1.0 mol%) of iridium catalyst that had a functional ligand. In this catalytic system, transfer hydrogenation reactions proceeded based on the cooperativity of iridium and a functional ligand. It should be noted that environmentally benign water could have been used as a solvent in the present catalytic system for the reduction of various carbonyl substrates. Furthermore, the reaction scope could be extended by using <i>N,N</i>-dimethylacetamide as a reaction solvent.
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