Iridium and copper supported on silicon dioxide as chemoselective catalysts for dehydrogenation and borrowing hydrogen reactions

Abstract

• Iridium and copper supported on silicon dioxide. • Iridium –catalyzed reaction of tert -butanesulfinamide with benzyl alcohol. • Selective synthesis of unsaturated carbonyl compounds. High active ligand usually plays an important role during catalysis and synthesis chemistry. A new and efficient benzotriazole-pyridinyl-silane ligand (BPS) was designed, and the corresponding iridium and copper catalysts were synthesized and thoroughly characterized by means of EDS, TEM, and XPS. The resulting iridium composite revealed excellent catalytic activity for the reaction of tert-butanesulfinamide with benzyl alcohols, while copper catalyst could realize the synthesis of unsaturated carbonyl compounds through the reaction of benzyl alcohols with ketones. This provided an efficient method for selective synthesis of unsaturated carbonyl compounds from benzyl alcohols and ketones in high yields with good recovery performance.