A KINETIC STUDY OF MEERWEIN-PONNDORF-VERLEY REACTION

Two steps of the Meerwein-Ponndorf-Verley (MPV) reaction have been studied in isolation by measuring the rates of exchange of deuterated acetone and deuterated isopropyl alcohol with aluminium isopropoxide. The results show that the “melt,” which consists predominately of the trimeric form in equilibrium with a small concentration of dimeric form, is about 103 times more reactive than the tetrameric form in both reactions. In the presence of isopropyl alcohol the first step of the MPV reduction with the tetramer is probably its unimolecular conversion to a more reactive form. The initial step in the reaction of the “melt” forms probably involves rapid and reversible coordination of the acetone or alcohol with the aluminium via valency expansion. © 1969, American Chemical Society. All rights reserved.