Abstract: The method is based on the measurement of the luminescence produced in the oxidation of aromatic ketone hydrazones with KMnO4 in the presence of rhodamine B as sensitizer. A 10 µL portion of hydrazone solution that was 10 µM in rhodamine B was injected into a 1.2 M formic acid carrier stream (1.3 ml/min), and this was subsequently merged with 0.5 mM KMnO4 (1.3 ml/min) and the resulting luminescence was measured with use of the luminometer described previously (cf. Faizullah and Towshend, Anal. Proc. (London):, 1985, 22, 15). Detection limits were 2 µM-benzildihydrazone, 3 µM-benzophenone (I) and acetophenone hydrazones, and 40 µM-benzoin hydrazone. For I the calibration graph was linear from 4-600 µM, and for 10 µM-I the RSD was 2% (n = 10). There was no interference from Cu(II), Cd(II), Zn(II), Ca(II), Co(II) or Ni(II), but Mn(II), Mo(VI) and Ce(IV) suppressed the chemiluminescence.

Abstract: When THF-borane (1/1) and aromatic ketone were supplied continuously to the column containing polymer-supported (S)-(-)-2-amino-3-(p-hydroxyphenyl)-1,1-diphenyl-1-propanol, the chiral product, secondary benzylic alcohol, could be obtained successfully (>90% ee). Large quantities of highly optically pure alcohol could be produced by the continuous flow system by the use of only a small amount of polymeric auxiliary.