2019, Schneekönig, Jacob, Tannert, Bianca, Hornke, Helen, Beller, Matthias, Junge, Kathrin

Various cobalt pincer type complexes 1-6 were applied for the catalytic hydrogenation of nitriles to amines. Among these, catalyst 4 is the most efficient, allowing the reduction of aromatic as well as aliphatic nitriles in moderate to excellent yields. © 2019 The Royal Society of Chemistry.

2019, Schneekönig, Jacob, Junge, Kathrin, Beller, Matthias

The asymmetric transfer hydrogenation of ketones using isopropyl alcohol (IPA) as hydrogen donor in the presence of novel manganese catalysts is explored. The selective and active systems are easily generated in situ from [MnBr(CO)5] and inexpensive C 2-symmeric bisoxalamide ligands. Under the optimized reaction conditions, the Mn-derived catalyst gave higher enantioselectivity compared with the related ruthenium catalyst.