Water as a Hydrogenating Agent: Stereodivergent Pd-Catalyzed Semihydrogenation of Alkynes.

Palladium-catalyzed transfer semihydrogenation of alkynes using H2O as the hydrogen source and Mn as the reducing reagent is developed, affording cis- and trans-alkenes selectively under mild conditions. In addition, this method provides an efficient way to access various cis-1,2-dideuterioalkenes and trans-1,2-dideuterioalkenes by using D2O instead of H2O.