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Named after Louis BouveaultGustave Louis Blanc Organic Chemistry Portal bouveault-blanc-reduction | ||
The Bouveault–Blanc reduction is a chemical reaction in which an ester is reduced to primary alcohols using absolute ethanol and sodium metal.
This reaction is an inexpensive and large-scale alternative to lithium aluminium hydride reduction of esters.
Reaction mechanism
Sodium metal is a single-electron reducing agent, meaning the sodium metal will transfer electrons one at a time. Four sodium atoms are required to fully reduce each ester to alcohols. Ethanol serves as a proton source.
References
Bouveault–Blanc reduction Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA