Abstract
Reactions of carboxylic acids and esters with sodium borohydride were examined. With an equivalent mol of sodium borohydride, caproic acid (I) was reduced to 1-hexanol (II) in the absence of a solvent at 300°(bath temperature), and hexyl caproate (III) was obtained with 1/4 equivalent mol of sodium borohydride. Similarly, aliphatic and aromatic carboxylic acids were reduced to the corresponding alcohols with an equivalent mol of sodium borohydride. Reaction of esters with sodium borohydride gave the corresponding alcohols.
