Iron-catalyzed reduction of carboxylic and carbonic acid derivatives

Selective ligand-free cobalt-catalysed reduction of esters to aldehydes or alcohols

Activated cobalt metal salts are effective and versatile catalysts for the chemoselective reduction of esters to aldehydes or alcohols through hydrosilylation reaction.

Catalytic (de)hydrogenation promoted by non-precious metals – Co, Fe and Mn: recent advances in an emerging field

This review is aimed at introducing the remarkable progress made in the last three years in the development of base metal catalysts for hydrogenations and dehydrogenative transformations.

Synthesis of cobalt nanoparticles by pyrolysis of vitamin B12: a non-noble-metal catalyst for efficient hydrogenation of nitriles

A facile preparation of vitamin B₁₂-derived carbonaceous cobalt particles supported on ceria is reported.

Unprecedented selective homogeneous cobalt-catalysed reductive alkoxylation of cyclic imides under mild conditions

The first general and efficient non-noble metal-catalysed reductive C2-alkoxylation of cyclic imides (phthalimides and succinimides) is presented. Crucial for the success is the use of [Co(BF₄)₂·6H₂O/triphos (L1)] combination and no external additives are required.

The first general and efficient non-noble metal-catalysed reductive C2-alkoxylation of cyclic imides (phthalimides and succinimides) is presented. Crucial for the success is the use of [Co(BF₄)₂·6H₂O/triphos (L1)] combination and no external additives are required. Using the optimal cobalt-system, the hydrogenation of the aromatic ring of the parent phthalimide is avoided and only one of the carbonyl groups is selectively functionalized. The resulting products, N- and aryl-ring substituted 3-alkoxy-2,3-dihydro-1H-isoindolin-1-one and N-substituted 3-alkoxy-pyrrolidin-2-one derivatives, are prepared under mild conditions in good to excellent isolated yields. Intramolecular reductive couplings can also be performed affording tricyclic compounds in a one-step process. The present protocol opens the way to the development of new base-metal processes for the straightforward synthesis of functionalized N-heterocyclic compounds of pharmaceutical and biological interest.

Polarizable and Non-Polarizable Force Field Representations of Ferric Cation and Validations

The AMOEBA polarizable force field of ferric ion was optimized and applied to study the hydration of ferric ion and its complexation with porphine in the aqueous phase. The nonpolarizable force field was also optimized for comparison. The AMOEBA force field was found to give a more accurate hydration free energy than the nonpolarizable force field with respect to experimental data, and correctly predict the most stable electronic state of hydrated Fe³⁺, which is the sextet state, and of the Fe^(III)-Por complex, which is the quartet state, consistent with the literature that was carried out using the DFT method. The explicit inclusion of charge transfer between Fe³⁺ and ligand was found to be important in order to obtain a precise picture of polarization energy and van der Waals energy, which otherwise deviate from the corresponding energy components derived from ab initio calculations. The successful application of the AMOEBA force field in the characterization of aquo Fe^(III)-Por complexes suggests that its use may be extended to the study of the dynamics of metalloenzyme containing highly charged metal ions in the condensed phase with reliable treatment of the interactions between metal atom and protein.

Selective Hydrogenation of Nitriles to Primary Amines by using a Cobalt Phosphine Catalyst

A general procedure for the catalytic hydrogenation of nitriles to primary amines by using a non-noble metal-based system is presented. Co(acac)₃ in combination with tris[2-(dicyclohexylphosphino)ethyl]phosphine efficiently catalyzes the selective hydrogenation of a wide range of (hetero)aromatic and aliphatic nitriles to give the corresponding amines.

Iron-catalyzed boration of allylic esters: an efficient approach to allylic boronates

The first general iron-catalyzed boration of allylic esters has been developed.

The mechanism of enantioselective ketone reduction with Noyori and Noyori–Ikariya bifunctional catalysts

The present article describes the current level of understanding of the mechanism of enantioselective hydrogenation and transfer hydrogenation of aromatic ketones with pioneering prototypes of bifunctional catalysts, the Noyori and Noyori–Ikariya complexes.

Selective catalytic hydrogenation of nitriles to primary amines using iron pincer complexes

The selective catalytic hydrogenation of nitriles to primary amines with the well-defined Fe(PNP^Cy) pincer complex 2 is reported.