Simple and efficient catalytic reaction for the selective deuteration of alcohols

A highly efficient system for the catalytic deuteration of α and β CH bonds of primary and secondary alcohols has been developed. The deuterium source is D₂O. Together with the low catalyst loadings and the simple experimental setup, the reaction has direct application to the synthesis of bioactive isotopologues and the direct synthesis of fully deuterated substrates, such as ethanol-d₆. The current system represents a significant advance in practicality for homogeneous metal catalyzed systems that carry out H/D exchange in organic substrates with water.