Reaction of Aldehydes or Ketones with Hydrazine Produces a Hydrazone
Reaction with a Base and Heat Converts a Hydrazone to an Alkane
Both Reactions Together Produces the Wolff-Kishner Reduction
Example
Mechanism of the Wolff-Kishner Reduction
1) Deprotonation of Nitrogen
2) Protonation of the Carbon
3) Deprotonation of Nitrogen
4) Protonation of Carbon
Problems
1) Please draw the products of the following reactions.
Answers
1)
Contributors
- Prof. Steven Farmer (Sonoma State University)
- William Reusch, Professor Emeritus (Michigan State U.), Virtual Textbook of Organic Chemistry