Sustainable radical reduction through catalytic hydrogen atom transfer

A system with coupled catalytic cycles is described that allows radical reduction by hydrogen atom abstraction from rhodium hydrides. These intermediates are generated from H2 activation by Wilkinson's catalyst. Radical generation is carried out by titanocene-catalyzed electron transfer to epoxides.     

Catalytic hydrogen transfer over MgO, VI dehydrogenation of 2-ethyl-1-hexanol

The dehydrogenation of 2-ethyl-l-hexanol to 2-ethylhexanal by hydrogen exchange with aliphatic aldehydes has been studied over MgO. As hydrogen acceptors acetaldehyde, propionaldehyde and isobutyraldehyde were used. Reaction with propionaldehyde was found to be an effective synthetic route for 2-ethylhexanal preparation, whereas during reactions with acetaldehyde and isobutyraldehyde a gradual catalyst deactivation vs. time-on-stream was observed.Part V in Stud. Surf. Sci. Catal., 78, 631 (1993) Fine Chemicals III), and references therein.     

Catalytic hydrogen transfer over MgO, VII. Dehydrogenation of pinocarveol and pinocampheol

The dehydrogenation of pinocarveol to pinocarvone and pinocampheol to pinocamphone over MgO by hydrogen transfer to aldehydes and ketones as acceptors has been studied. The yields of pinocarvone formed from the unsaturated alcohol did not exceed 10 mol%, while pinocampheol was dehydrogenated to the desired ketone with yields in the range of 40 mol%.     

Rapid reduction of heteroaromatic nitro groups using catalytic transfer hydrogenation with microwave heating

A method for the rapid, safe reduction of heteroaromatic and aromatic nitro groups to amines is described using catalytic transfer hydrogenation under microwave heating conditions. Commonly available Pd/C or Pt/C catalyst is extremely effective with 1,4-cyclohexadiene as the hydrogen transfer source. In the case of substrates containing potentially labile aromatic halogens, Pt/C is effective and results in little or no dehalogenation. In general, the reactions are complete within 5 min at 120 °C.     

Uncatalyzed Meerwein-Ponndorf-Verley reduction of trifluoromethyl carbonyl compounds by high-temperature secondary alcohols

Noncatalytic Meerwein-Ponndorf-Verley (MPV) reduction of hexafluoroacetone and methyl ester of trifluoropyruvic acid into hexafluoroisopropanol (HFIP) and trifluorolactic esters, respectively can be achieved by heating with secondary alcohols at 210-250 °C without any catalyst.     

Diboron-mediated palladium-catalyzed asymmetric transfer hydrogenation using the proton of alcohols as hydrogen source

The developments of hydrogen sources stand at the forefront of asymmetric reduction. In contrast to the well-studied alcohols as hydrogen sources via β-hydride elimination, the direct utilization of the proton of alcohols as a hydrogen source for activatormediated asymmetric reduction is rarely explored. Herein we report the proton of alcohols as a hydrogen source in diboronmediated palladium-catalyzed asymmetric transfer hydrogenation of 1,3-diketones and indoles, providing a series of chiral β-hydroxy ketones and indolines with excellent yields and enantioselectivities. This strategy would be useful for the synthesis of chiral deuterium-labelled compounds due to the ready availability of deuterium-labelled alcohols. Mechanistic investigations and DFT calculations revealed that active chiral Pd-H species was generated from the proton of alcohols by activating of tetrahydroxydiboron, hydrogen transfer was the rate-determining step, and the reaction preferred Pd(0)-catalyzed mechanism.     

Highly chemoselective reduction of carbonyl groups in the presence of aldehydes

The exquisite ability of diethylaluminum benzenethiolate to efficiently discriminate between aldehydes and other carbonyl functions enables the chemoselective in situ reduction of ketones and methyl esters in the presence of aldehydes. This potent strategy avoids the usual drawbacks of traditional protecting group methodologies and could be extended to various other transformations.     

Regio- and chemoselective catalytic transfer hydrogenation of aromatic nitro and carbonyl as well as reductive cleavage of azo compounds over novel mesoporous NiMCM-41 molecular sieves

[reaction: see text] [corrected] Regio- and chemoselective reduction of nitroarenes and carbonyl compounds and reductive cleavage of azo compounds, including bulkier molecules, was achieved by the catalytic transfer hydrogenation method (CTH) using a novel nickel-containing mesoporous silicate (NiMCM-41) molecular sieve catalyst. In addition, the catalyst was also found to behave as a truly heterogeneous catalyst as the yield was practically unaffected.     

Selective reduction of carbonyl groups in the presence of low-valent titanium reagents

The chemoselective reduction of several structurally diverse compounds containing carbonyl groups was achieved in the presence of low-valent titanium reagents. This novel synthetic method provides easy access to highly selective reduction of carbonyl groups, and possesses several advantages including one-step procedure, convenient manipulation, good to excellent yields, and short reaction times.     

Role of hydroxyl groups in the stereochemistry of hydrogen transfer from chiral NAD(P)H model to carbonyl

Asymmetric reduction of α-ketoester with a chiral dihydronicotinamide was significantly affected by chiral aromatic additives, capable of exerting an attractive interaction with dihydropyridine ring, which was further consolidated through with magnesium.     

Highly sustainable catalytic dehydrogenation of alcohols with evolution of hydrogen gas

The catalytic dehydrogenation of alcohols into aldehydes and ketones in the absence of H-acceptors was studied with several transition metal catalysts in order to develop a large-scale procedure. Applying Ru(OCOCF₃)₂(CO)(PPh₃)₂, the so called Robinson catalyst, several secondary alcohols could be dehydrogenated with high selectivity into the corresponding ketones in relatively short reaction times. Highly effective atom utilization could be realized avoiding solvents and giving hydrogen gas as the sole by-product. However, in contrast to Robinson's work the catalytic dehydrogenation of primary alcohols appeared to be problematic due to decarbonylation with concomitant catalyst deactivation and aldol condensation under the strong acid or basic conditions applied.     

Influence of gaseous hydrogen on the hydrogen transfer reaction between phenanthrene and hydrogen donors

Transfer hydrogenation of phenanthrene was performed in the presence of superbases or strong acids and gaseous hydrogen. The influence of hydrogen on the yield of these reactions was discussed with respect to the mechanism of hydrogen transfer.     

甲醇为氢源的连续化催化转移加氢合成芳胺

开发了一种温和高效的以甲醇为氢源,以Ru-Fe双金属催化剂催化的硝基芳烃连续化转移加氢方法。采用浸渍法制备Ru-Fe双金属催化剂,通过电感耦合等离子体-质谱(ICP-MS)、透射电子显微镜(TEM)、X射线衍射(XRD）、氢气程序升温还原(H₂-TPR)对催化剂进行表征。结果表明催化剂具有较小的粒径和较好的分散性。在Ru-Fe双金属催化剂上,成功实现了硝基芳烃与甲醇在无外加氢源条件下的连续化转移加氢合成芳胺。通过对反应条件的调控,成功得到了一系列产率较高的胺类化合物。特别地,该方法对不饱和基团(醛基、羰基或炔基)取代的硝基芳烃的加氢表现出优异的选择性和转化率。