The present work reports the first selective catalytic hydrogenation of bifunctional compounds containing a carbonyl and sulphur moieties, using hydrogen transfer from alcohols and a basic catalyst. The reaction was performed in batch at 371 K at atmospheric pressure with 3-mercaptopropionaldehyde, thiophene-2-carboxaldehyde, 5-bromothiophene-2-carboxaldehyde and 4-methylthiobenzaldehyde. The only product of reaction was the alcohol, formed with yields > 80%, except with 3-mercaptopropionaldehyde which did not give the alcohol but rather afforded unidentified heavy products. 5-Bromothiophenemethanol was obtained with 100% yield in 3 h. The reaction obeys a mechanism of competitive adsorption of the reactants, and the reaction rates are higher than those reported for supported rhodium catalysts.
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