Catalytic Strategies toward Selective Hydrogenation of Aromatic Ketones and Phenols: Facile Synthesis of Cyclohexyl Ketones

Selective hydrogenation of aromatic ketones and phenols by the reduction of aromatic groups, with the retention of an easily reducible carbonyl functionality in the final products, provides a practically useful route to fundamentally interesting cyclohexyl ketones and cyclohexanones, but the achievement thereof remains a great challenge. Recently, however, much progress in this area has been made with the use of rhodium and palladium catalysis. We now highlight the achievements made in the selective hydrogenation of aromatic ketones and phenols by reduction of the aromatic motifs. 1 Introduction 2 Chemoselective Hydrogenation of Aromatic Ketones by Reducing the Aromatic Scaffolds 3 Selective Hydrogenation of Phenols to Cyclohexanones 4 Conclusion