Catalytic hydrogenation of alkenes is a transition-metal catalyzed reduction of the double bond using molecular hydrogen to give alkanes. The mode of hydrogen addition follows syn stereochemistry.
The metal catalyst used can be either heterogeneous or homogeneous. When hydrogenation of an alkene generates a chiral center, a pair of enantiomeric products is expected to form. However, an enantiomeric excess of one of the products can be facilitated using an enantioselective reaction or an...

The chiral α-carbon of the carbonyl compound is the stereocenter of the molecule. As shown in the figure below, when such a carbonyl compound undergoes racemization under an acidic or basic condition, an achiral enol is formed.

Similar to water, alcohols can add to the carbonyl carbon of the aldehydes and ketones. The addition of one molecule of alcohol to the carbonyl compound forms the hemiacetal or half acetal. As depicted below, in a hemiacetal, the carbon is directly linked to an OH and OR group.

The rate of acid-catalyzed hydration of alkenes depends on the alkene's structure, as the presence of alkyl substituents at the double bond can significantly influence the rate.

The conversion of allylic alcohols into epoxides using the chiral catalyst was discovered by K. Barry Sharpless and is known as Sharpless epoxidation. The use of a chiral catalyst enables the formation of one enantiomer of the product in excess. This chiral catalyst is mainly a chiral complex of titanium tetraisopropoxide and tartrate ester (specific stereoisomer). The stereoisomer used in the chiral catalyst dictates the formation of the enantiomer of the product. In other words, the use of...

Oxymercuration–reduction of alkenes is one of the major reactions converting alkenes to alcohols. It involves the hydration of alkenes with mercuric acetate in a mixture of tetrahydrofuran and water, forming an organomercury adduct. This is followed by a demercuration step in which the adduct is reduced to an alcohol using sodium borohydride.