The story
Discovered by Hans Meerwein and Rudolf Schmidt, and separately by A. Verley, in 1925. Ponndorf applied the reaction to ketones and upgraded the catalyst.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Meerwein-Ponndorf-Verley reduction
Today it means: The reduction of ketones and aldehydes to their corresponding alcohols, using aluminium alkoxide catalysis in the presence of a sacrificial alcohol. Full definition →