A useful variant of the iming-forming reaction just discussed involves the treatment of a ketone or aldehyde with hydrazine,H2NHH2, in the presence of KOH. This reaction, discovered independently in 1911 by Ludwig Wplff in Germany and N.M. Kishner in Russia, is a valuable method for converting a ketone or aldehyde into an alkane, R2C=O R2CH2. The Wolff-Kishner reaction was originally carried out at temperatures as high as 240oC, bot a modification in which dimethyl sulfoxide is used as solvent allows the process to take place near room temperature.