Moderate Activity from Trace Palladium Alloyed with Copper for the Chemoselective Hydrogenation of –CN and –NO2 with HCOOH

Abstract

AbstractThe chemoselective hydrogenation to afford functionalized amines is a challenging task in the field of applied catalysis. In this work, we constructed a versatile catalytic system for the nondestructive hydrogenation of nitro and cyano group to afford the functionalized aromatic and primary amines under mild conditions. The dilemma of effects on other sensitive functional groups in the hydrogenation is solved by the precisely controlled activity from the trace palladium alloying with copper in our catalyst. The TOF achieved 5376 h−1 and 322581 h−1 for Pd when the functionalized nitriles and nitroarenes were used as substrate respectively. In a word, the good compatibility and recyclability, the mild operation conditions, extremely low consumption of noble metal, ppm level Pd, and economically available hydrogen donor, HCOOH, highlight the contribution of this work.