Catalytic Deuteration of Aldehydes with D₂O

Dedicated to Professor Victor Snieckus on the occasion of his 80^th birthday

Abstract

A procedure is presented that enables the direct deuteration of the formyl C–H bond of aldehydes using D₂O as the deuterium source and commercially available RuHCl(CO)(PPh₃)₃ as the catalyst. Up to 84% deuterium incorporation can be achieved in a single experiment. Multiple iterations can be carried out to further increase the deuteration.

Key words

aldehydes - isotopic labeling - ruthenium - deuteration - H/D exchange

• References and Notes

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