InBr₃‐Catalyzed Deoxygenation of Carboxylic Acids with a Hydrosilane: Reductive Conversion of Aliphatic or Aromatic Carboxylic Acids to Primary Alcohols or Diphenylmethanes

A simple and practical procedure for the direct reduction of aliphatic carboxylic acids with a variety of functional groups to a primary alcohol using the mild reducing reagent tetramethyldisiloxane (TMDS), in the presence of a catalytic amount of InBr 3 has been developed. This simple reducing system, when used together with a hydrosilane, allows the preparation of the diphenylmethane derivative directly from an aromatic carboxylic acid and an aromatic compound.