Reductions of Aldehydes and Ketones with a Readily Available N-Heterocyclic Carbene Borane and Acetic Acid.

Acetic acid promotes the reduction of aldehydes and ketones by the readily available N-heterocyclic carbene borane, 1,3-dimethylimidazol-2-ylidene borane. Aldehydes are reduced over 1-24 h at room temperature with 1 equiv of acetic acid and 0.5 equiv of the NHC-borane. Ketone reductions are slower but can be accelerated by using 5 equiv of acetic acid. Aldehydes can be selectively reduced in the presence of ketones. On a small scale, products are isolated by evaporation of the reaction mixture and direct chromatography.\ud \u