Reduction of aromatic and aliphatic keto esters using sodium borohydride/MeOH at room temperature: a thorough investigation

Reduction of keto esters is a valuable alternative to produce diols. Sodium borohydride/MeOH system at room temperature and short reaction time efficiently reduced α, β, γ, and δ-keto esters having α-keto esters as the most reactive. The ester functionality was reduced effectively due to the presence of oxo group that somehow facilitates the formation of ring intermediate. As expected, the chemoselective experiments showed that ester functionality was not reduced using this system. This study presents a simple, easy, and benign reduction process of various keto esters to its corresponding diols.