Palladium on pumice: new catalysts for the stereoselective semihydrogenation of alkynes to (Z)-alkenes

High selectivities (93-99%) and excellent stereoselectivities (>99%) in the semihydrogenation of CC triple bonds were achieved using palladium on pumice with a metal loading of 0.5, 1.5 or 3.0% wt as catalyst. The reactions were carried out in ethanol or tetrahydrofuran with only 2.5% of ethylenediamine allowing a self-terminating semihydrogenation independently on the CC triple bond.