This reaction is an example of the catalytic hydrogenation of an acid in an ionic liquid similar to the reagents sodium metal/liquid ammonia discussed in lecture. This particular reaction has sorbic acid and hydrogen gas reacting with a ruthenium catalyst and a biphasic 1-butyl-3-methyl imidazolium hexafluorophosphate (bmimPF6)/methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) system to create cis-hex-3-enoic acid. The above reaction occurs with ~85% selectivity. The author of this paper was examining enantioselective hydrogenation in ionic liquids because this mechanism could provide a means for facile recycling of metal complexes of expensive chiral ligands. The author also studies some hydrogenation reactions that lead to the precursor of the antiinflammatory drug ibuprofen, the active ingredient in Advil.

This is one of the synthesis steps to produce tolterodine tartrate. The focus of the study was to find a cost-effective and impurity-free process to produce tolterodine tartrate. This compound is a muscle relaxant used to treat bladder disorders. Although ethers are inert to most reagents, a benzyl ether, like the one above, can be hydrogenated under mild conditions (H2/Raney/Ni/MeOH/25-30 C) to an alcohol. The phenyl group stays and the methylbenzene group leaves.