A chemoselective hydrogenation of the olefinic bond of α,β-unsaturated carbonyl compounds in aqueous medium under microwave irradiation

A microwave-assisted mild and ecofriendly catalytic transfer hydrogenation process was developed to reduce various alpha,beta-unsaturated carbonyl compounds into the corresponding saturated carbonyl compounds in the presence of silica-supported palladium chloride as catalyst and a combination of MeOH/HCOOH/H2O (1:2:3) as hydrogen source within 22-55 minutes in moderate to excellent yields with 100% chemoselectivity.