A Novel Iodide-Catalyzed Reduction of Nitroarenes and Aryl Ketones with H₃PO₂ or H₃PO₃: Its Application to the Synthesis of a Potential Anticancer Agent

Abstract

A novel iodide-catalyzed reduction method using hypophosphorous and/or phosphorus acids was developed to reduce both diaryl ketones and nitroarenes chemoselectively in the presence of chloro and bromo substituents in high yield. This efficient and practical method has been successfully applied to a large scale production of a potential anticancer agent.