A novel gold-catalyzed chemoselective reduction of α,β-unsaturated aldehydes using CO and H2O as the hydrogen source

Abstract

Chemoselective reduction of alpha,beta-unsaturated aldehydes in the presence of CO and H(2)O proceeds effectively over a ceria-supported gold catalyst system, providing a novel, efficient and clean approach to produce useful primary allyl alcohols with excellent activity and selectivity.