Birch reduction
Reducción de Birch
- Date
- 1944 · confidence high
- Place
- Oxford, England, United Kingdom
- Credited to
- Arthur Birch
- Field
- Matter & energy
What was discovered
A reaction that reduces aromatic rings to 1,4-cyclohexadienes using an alkali metal dissolved in liquid ammonia with a proton source, without fully saturating the ring as catalytic hydrogenation does.
What it led to
- a key route in the synthesis of steroids and hormonal contraceptives
- a routine tool in the organic synthesis of drugs
- extension to the reduction of other aromatic compounds such as naphthalene
- influence on the study of dissolving-metal reduction mechanisms