Reduction of aldehydes catalysts
The reduction of aldehydes is a widely utilised transformation in small molecule chemistry, most commonly leading to the formation of primary alcohols. Primary alcohols are prevalent across industries, both in small molecule products and as intermediates in the reactin pathways, due to their stability and versatility. Generally, palladium is the preferred catalytic metal in hydrogenation of aromatic aldehydes - it can also catalyse the production of hydrocarbon formed from the hydrogenolysis of the alcohol intermediate under acidic and polar conditions. In the hydrogenation of saturated aliphatic aldehydes the preferred catalytic metals are platinum and ruthenium.