Low temperature catalytic reduction

Abstract

This invention relates to a method of utilizing alkali metal hydrides, such as sodium hydride and lithium hydride, under mild and safe conditions. The method may be used to produce bonds between hydrogen and elements such as carbon, silicon, germanium, tin, phosphorous, arsenic, antimony and tellurium. Many organic compounds, such as chlorides, bromides, ketones, aldehydes and acid chlorides, may also be reduced. The elements from the above list are bonded, before the reduction, to electronegative elements such as fluorine, chlorine, bromine, iodine, oxygen, sulfur, selenium and nitrogen. According to the invention, the alkali metal hydride is catalytically activated by a solution of an alkali borohydride in a suitable ether solvent, so that it rapidly replaces the halogens or other electronegative groups by hydrogen atoms.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.