Iron-catalysed reduction of carbonyls and olefins

Abstract

The transition metal-catalysed reduction of olefins and carbonyl groups are amongst the most used reactions in synthetic chemistry. Recent developments using iron catalysts have shown that iron species are able to equal the activity of the traditionally used transition metals in these reductions. This review will focus on the iron-catalysed hydrosilylation, hydrogenation and transfer hydrogenation of carbonyl groups and the hydrogenation of olefins.