Iron(III) Chloride‐Catalysed Aerobic Reduction of Olefins using Aqueous Hydrazine at Ambient Temperature

Abstract A chemoselective reduction of olefins and acetylenes is demonstrated by employing catalytic amounts of ferric chloride hexahydrate (FeCl 3 ⋅6 H 2 O) and aqueous hydrazine (NH 2 NH 2 ⋅H 2 O) as hydrogen source at room temperature. The reduction is chemoselective and tolerates a variety of reducible functional groups. Unlike other metal‐catalysed reduction methods, the present method employs a minimum amount of aqueous hydrazine (1.5–2 equiv.). Also, the scope of this method is demonstrated in the synthesis of ibuprofen in aqueous medium.