Reduction of alkyl and vinyl sulfonates using the CuCl2·2H2O–Li–DTBB(cat.) system

The reduction of a series of alkyl mesylates, dimesylates and triflates to the corresponding hydrocarbons was efficiently performed using a reducing system composed of CuCl2·2H2O, an excess of lithium sand and a catalytic amount (5 mol%) of 4,4′-di-tert-butylbiphenyl (DTBB), in tetrahydrofuran at room temperature. The process was also applied to enol and dienol triflates affording alkenes and dienes, respectively. The use of the deuterated copper salt CuCl2·2D2O allowed the simple preparation of the corresponding deuterated products.