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Efficient and selective hydrogenation of amides to alcohols and amines using a well-defined manganese-PNN pincer complex
Novel well-defined NNP and PNP manganese pincer complexes have been synthetized and fully characterized. The catalyst Mn-2 containing an imidazolyaminolphosphino ligand shows high activity and selectivity in the hydrogenation of a wide range of secondary and tertiary amides to the corresponding alcohols and amines, under relatively mild conditions. For the first time, more challenging substrates like primary aromatic amides including an actual herbicide can also be hydrogenated using this earth-abundant metal-based pincer catalyst.
Towards a general ruthenium-catalyzed hydrogenation of secondary and tertiary amides to amines
A broad range of secondary and tertiary amides has been hydrogenated to the corresponding amines under mild conditions using an in situ catalyst generated by combining [Ru(acac)3], 1,1,1-tris(diphenylphosphinomethyl)ethane (Triphos) and Yb(OTf)3. The presence of the metal triflate allows to mitigate reaction conditions compared to previous reports thus improving yields and selectivities in the desired amines. The excellent isolated yields of two scale-up experiments corroborate the feasibility of the reaction protocol. Control experiments indicate that, after the initial reduction of the amide carbonyl group, the reaction proceeds through the reductive amination of the alcohol with the amine arising from collapse of the intermediate hemiaminal.
Intermetallic nickel silicide nanocatalyst—A non-noble metal–based general hydrogenation catalyst
Hydrogenation reactions are essential processes in the chemical industry, giving access to a variety of valuable compounds including fine chemicals, agrochemicals, and pharmachemicals. On an industrial scale, hydrogenations are typically performed with precious metal catalysts or with base metal catalysts, such as Raney nickel, which requires special handling due to its pyrophoric nature. We report a stable and highly active intermetallic nickel silicide catalyst that can be used for hydrogenations of a wide range of unsaturated compounds. The catalyst is prepared via a straightforward procedure using SiO2 as the silicon atom source. The process involves thermal reduction of Si–O bonds in the presence of Ni nanoparticles at temperatures below 1000°C. The presence of silicon as a secondary component in the nickel metal lattice plays the key role in its properties and is of crucial importance for improved catalytic activity. This novel catalyst allows for efficient reduction of nitroarenes, carbonyls, nitriles, N-containing heterocycles, and unsaturated carbon–carbon bonds. Moreover, the reported catalyst can be used for oxidation reactions in the presence of molecular oxygen and is capable of promoting acceptorless dehydrogenation of unsaturated N-containing heterocycles, opening avenues for H2 storage in organic compounds. The generality of the nickel silicide catalyst is demonstrated in the hydrogenation of over a hundred of structurally diverse unsaturated compounds. The wide application scope and high catalytic activity of this novel catalyst make it a nice alternative to known general hydrogenation catalysts, such as Raney nickel and noble metal–based catalysts.