Chemical Reduction

RBL's ability in reduction via catalytic processing is fully complemented by expertise in chemical reduction. This is particularly appropriate for sulphur containing systems where the sulphur can poison catalysts and render them useless.

RBL routinely performs reductions using metal hydrides, such as sodium hydride, sodium borohydride and lithium aluminium hydride, for example to reduce ketones to alcohols and to reduce sulphur heterocyclics. Out of choice, we use environmentally safer reductive reagents, such as Red-Al, wherever possible.

In addition to hydride reductions, RBL offers Leukhart reductions using formaldehyde as a methylating agent: