Pd-Catalyzed Hydrogen-Transfer Reactions from Alcohols to C=C, C=O, and C=N Bonds

This review covers Pd-catalyzed abstracting and borrowing hydrogen transfers from alcohols to C=C, C=O, and C=N bonds. An abstracting hydrogen transfer implies a reaction in which an alcohol serves only as a hydrogen atom source, whereas in a borrowing hydrogen transfer the alcohol is part of the final product. Both transfer types involve a palladium monohydride or palladium dihydride, and are implicated in a variety of useful and safe one-pot reactions such as the formation, with low quantities of waste material, of C-C, C-O, and C-N bonds. Plausible mechanisms are, as far as possible, provided.