MIL-101(Cr) as a synergistic catalyst for the reduction of imines with trichlorosilane

Abstract

The development of catalyst based on porous crystalline materials (PCM) constructed from metal ions or clusters and multidentate organic ligands is a topic of great interest. In view of the Lewis acidic and basic properties of PCMs, we report for the first time that MIL-101(Cr) works as a synergistic catalyst for the reduction of imines with trichlorosilane as the hydrogen source. Both ketimines and aldimines were tolerated with this protocol, giving the corresponding amines in moderate to high yields. The operational simplicity as well as mild reaction conditions renders this protocol an attractive approach for the synthesis of amines. Furthermore, a chiral MOF, CMIL-101, was also realized by grafting chiral N-formyl proline derivatives to the open metal sites. Moreover, CMIL-101 exhibited a comparable catalytic performance with its homogeneous counterpart in terms of yields and enantioselectivities.