Transfer hydrogenation of nitroarenes to arylamines catalysed by an oxygen-implanted MoS2 catalyst

Abstract

We present an efficient approach for chemoselective synthesis of various functionalized arylamines from nitroarenes over an oxygen-implanted MoS2 catalyst (O-MoS2). The HRTEM, XRD, XPS, Raman, EXAFS and NH3-TPD characterizations show the existence of MoIVOx structure and abundant coordinative unsaturated (CUS) Mo sites in the 2D-layer structure of O-MoS2. In the transfer hydrogenation of nitroarenes with hydrazine hydrate, the MoIVOx structure works as the catalytic active center. The N2H4 selectively decomposes to the active hydrogen species in polar electronic states (Hδ− and Hδ+), which show high chemoselectivity toward the nitro reduction over CC, CC, and CN groups. The O-MoS2 catalyst can be recovered in a facile manner from the reaction mixture and recycled four times without any significant loss of activity.