Facile and efficient reduction of ketones in the presence of zinc catalysts modified by phenol ligands.

In the present study, the zinc-catalyzed hydrosilylation of various ketones to give their corresponding alcohols has been examined in detail. Diethyl zinc that can be modified by easily accessible phenol ligands allows the efficient reduction of various aryl and alkyl ketones. By using a practical in situ catalyst, excellent turnover frequencies up to 1000 h(-1) and a broad functional group tolerance were achieved.