A novel iodide-catalyzed reduction of nitroarenes and aryl ketones with H3PO2 or H3PO3: its application to the synthesis of a potential anticancer agent.

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.