A general procedure for the introduction of a hydroxyethyl group has been developed. S,S′-Diethyl dithiomalonate (1) readily undergoes substitution with a variety of electrophiles to give dithiomalonates RR′C(COSEt)2 which on treatment with W-2 Ra-Ni afford ethanol derivatives RR′CHCH2OH.
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Liu et al. (1979) studied this question.