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In organic chemistry, carbonyl reduction is the organic reduction of any carbonyl group by a reducing agent.
Typical carbonyl compounds are ketones, aldehydes, carboxylic acids, esters, and acid halides. Carboxylic acids, esters, and acid halides can be reduced to either aldehydes or a step further to primary alcohols, depending on the strength of the reducing agent; aldehydes and ketones can be reduced respectively to primary and secondary alcohols. In deoxygenation, the alcohol can be further reduced and removed altogether.
Metal hydrides based on boron and aluminum are common reducing agents; catalytic hydrogenation is also an important method of reducing carbonyls. Before the discovery of soluble hydride reagents, esters were reduced by the Bouveault–Blanc reduction, employing a mixture of sodium metal in the presence of alcohols.