10.1021/acs.organomet.7b00392.s002 Tesia V. Chciuk Tesia V. Chciuk William R. Anderson William R. Anderson Robert A. Flowers Robert A. Flowers Reversibility of Ketone Reduction by SmI<sub>2</sub>–Water and Formation of Organosamarium Intermediates American Chemical Society 2017 PCET SmI ketone reductions 2017-07-25 18:47:30 Dataset https://acs.figshare.com/articles/dataset/Reversibility_of_Ketone_Reduction_by_SmI_sub_2_sub_Water_and_Formation_of_Organosamarium_Intermediates/5244538 The reduction of ketones by SmI<sub>2</sub>–water has long been thought to proceed through a reversible initial electron transfer with the formation of organosamarium intermediates in a follow-up step. Kinetic experiments on the reduction of two model ketones and structurally similar ketones with a pendant alkene are shown to be consistent with a rate-limiting reduction by SmI<sub>2</sub>–water through a proton-coupled electron-transfer (PCET). Literature values for the rates of radical cyclizations and reduction of radicals by SmI<sub>2</sub> and thermochemical data for radical reduction by SmI<sub>2</sub>–water further support a rate-limiting initial step for ketone reductions. These data suggest that discrete organosamarium species may not be intermediates in ketone reductions by SmI<sub>2</sub>–water.