A traditional method for the reduction of alkynes to trans-alkenes is to dissolve metal reduction using sodium or lithium in ammonia. However, we can also use Zinc as a metal to reduce alkynes.
In this specific case, by changing the proton source in the reaction, the dissolving Zinc metal reduction of ethyl phenylpropiolate to the corresponding cinnamate ester can be stereochemically controlled.
The product of the reaction will be a mixture of cis and trans ester. By this reaction, we can see the efficiency of Zinc in the reduction of alkynes.
This is an example of the reaction of an epoxide ring reacting with water and and enzyme (epoxide hydrolase) to create a vicinal diol. The paper displays experiments with several different compounds and the role of mono- and di-oxygenase enzymes in arene
metabolism. The paper also displays a variety of intermediary or alternative pathways the the substrates can take to generate different, but useful products. The primary focus is on the impressive ability of bacterial oxygenases to catalyse the cisdihydroxylation
of a diverse range of arenes and alkenes to yield a single enantiomer.
