Phyllosilicate‐derived Nickel‐cobalt Bimetallic Nanoparticles for the Catalytic Hydrogenation of Imines, Oximes and N‐heteroarenes

The medicinal chemistry of piperazines: A review

The versatile basic structure of piperazine allows for the development and production of newer bioactive molecules that can be used to treat a wide range of diseases. Piperazine derivatives are unique and can easily be modified for the desired pharmacological activity. The two opposing nitrogen atoms in a six-membered piperazine ring offer a large polar surface area, relative structural rigidity, and more acceptors and donors of hydrogen bonds. These properties frequently result in greater water solubility, oral bioavailability, and ADME characteristics, as well as improved target affinity and specificity. Various synthetic protocols have been reported for piperazine and its derivatives. In this review, we focused on recently published synthetic protocols for the synthesis of the piperazine and its derivatives. The structure-activity relationship concerning different biological activities of various piperazine-containing drugs has also been highlighted to provide a good understanding to researchers for future research on piperazines.

Influence of Highly Stable Ni2+ Species in Ni Phyllosilicate Catalysts on Selective Hydrogenation of Furfural to Furfuryl Alcohol

Enhancing the catalytic performance of non-noble Ni catalysts in the selective hydrogenation of furfural to furfuryl alcohol (FA) in terms of furfural conversion, selectivity, and good recyclability is challenging. Here, spherical nickel phyllosilicate catalysts (Ni_PS) with fibrous-like structures are prepared via a modified sol-gel method with Ni loadings of 2-30 wt %. Upon exposure to air, all the reduced Ni_PS catalysts exhibit more than 80% Ni⁰/Ni_{phyllosilicate} species on the surface, whereas a large portion of Ni oxide species (>55%) is presented on the impregnated catalyst. The Ni²⁺ species in nickel phyllosilicate catalysts are active and highly stable during reduction, reaction, and regeneration, yielding stable catalytic performance for multiple recycle tests in furfural hydrogenation to FA. Furfural conversion over the Ni_PS catalysts increased monotonically with increasing Ni loading without an FA selectivity drop. The presence of both metallic Ni⁰ and Ni_{phyllosilicate} also produces a synergistic promotional effect for FA formation.

Heterogeneous Catalysis as an Efficient Tool for Selective Hydrogenation of Oximes to Amines and Hydroxylamines

The synthesis of many biologically active compounds is not complete without transforming the carbonyl group into an amino group, carried out by the reaction of nucleophilic substitution with hydroxylamine at the carbonyl carbon atom and further reduction of the C–N and N–O bonds. This method eliminates nitrating agents that exhibit oxidizing properties and may cause undesirable effects on other structural fragments of complex molecules. Selective hydrogenation of oximes over heterogeneous catalysts is still one of the most useful and challenging reactions in synthetic organic chemistry to obtain amines and hydroxylamines since the 1920s when the Adam’s catalyst was first used for this reaction. In this review, we focused on the application of heterogeneous catalysts for the hydrogenation of oximes in relation to the methods applied for pharmaceutical synthesis.

The delicate balance of phase speciation in bimetallic nickel cobalt nanoparticles

Bimetallic nickel-cobalt nanoparticles are highly sought for their potential as catalytic and magnetic nanoparticles. These are typically prepared in organic solvents in the presence of strong stabilizing ligands such as tri-n-octylphosphine (TOP). Due to the variety of cobalt crystallographic phases and to the strong interaction of the ligands with the metallic surfaces, forming fcc nanoparticles rather than a phase mixture is a challenging endeavor. Here, using a two-step synthesis strategy that aims at a core-shell nickel-cobalt morphology, we demonstrated that many parameters have to be adjusted: concentration of the metal precursors, stoichiometry of TOP, and heating program from room temperature to 180 °C. We found optimized conditions to form size-controlled fcc NiCo nanoparticles from preformed Ni nanoparticles, and the phase attribution was confirmed with a combination of X-Ray diffraction on powder and X-Ray absorption spectroscopy at the Co K edge. We then investigated the early stages of Co nucleation on the nickel using a lower stoichiometry of Co, down to 0.05 equiv. vs. Ni. Using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and scanning transmission electron microscopy coupled to energy-dispersive X-Ray spectroscopy and electron energy loss spectroscopy, we showed that cobalt reacts first on the nickel nanoparticles but easily forms cobalt-rich larger aggregates in the further steps of the reaction.

Asymmetric hydrogenation of TIPS-protected oximes with chiral boranes

An enantioselective metal-free hydrogenation of TIPS-protected oximes has been successfully realized for the first time by using chiral borane catalysts derived from chiral dienes and Piers' borane. A variety of hydroxylamine derivatives were afforded in 84-99% yields with 33-68% ees.

Catalytic Reduction of Oximes to Hydroxylamines: Current Methods, Challenges and Opportunities

Catalytic reduction of oximes represents a direct efficient approach to synthesize valuable hydroxylamine derivatives. However this transformation presents significant challenges: oximes are hard to reduce and, if reactive, reductive cleavage of the weak N-O bond often leads to primary amine side products. The first suitable systems involved the use of platinum-based heterogeneous catalysts with hydrogen as reductant and stoichiometric amounts of a strong Brønsted acid. More recently metal-free and transition-metal-based homogeneous catalysts have been developed, which display the highest turnovers (up to 4000). In the asymmetric variants, the E/Z-geometry of the oxime double bond affects significantly the stereoselectivity, sometimes requiring extra synthetic efforts in substrate preparation. This minireview provides an overview of the advances and limitations in catalytic oxime to hydroxylamine reduction. Emphasis is put on highlighting and comparing the practical aspects of the existing methods, such as their reaction conditions and substrate scope. Additionally, future directions for improving this young research area are suggested.

Unique catalytic properties of Ni–Ir alloy for the hydrogenation of N-heteroaromatics

SiO2-supported Ni–Ir alloy catalysts showed much higher catalytic activity for the hydrogenation of N-heteroaromatics including pyridines and quinolines than monometallic Ir/SiO2 and Ni/SiO2.

Imine Reduction with Me2S-BH3

Although there exists a variety of different catalysts for hydroboration of organic substrates such as aldehydes, ketones, imines, nitriles etc., recent evidence suggests that tetra-coordinate borohydride species, formed by activation, redistribution, or decomposition of boron reagents, are the true hydride donors. We then proposed that Me2S-BH3 could also act as a hydride donor for the reduction of various imines, as similar compounds have been observed to reduce carbonyl substrates. This boron reagent was shown to be an effective and chemoselective hydroboration reagent for a wide variety of imines.

Cu Nanoclusters Anchored on the Metal-Organic Framework for the Hydrolysis of Ammonia Borane and the Reduction of Quinolines

Free-access active sites created and the interaction regulated between them and substrates during the heterogeneous catalysis process are crucial, which remain a great challenge. In this work, in suit reduced to afford naked Cu nanoparticles (NPs) have been anchored on the metal-organic framework (MOF), NH₂-MOF, to form Cu-NH₂-MOF. The strategy can precisely control the Cu NP formation with small size and uniform distribution. The Cu NP properties and MOF advantages have been integrated to create a great catalyst with multiple functions and have resulted in improving the recyclability and superb catalytic activity for the one-pot reduction of heterocycle reactions under mild conditions. The experimental and theoretical calculation results show that the superior performance should be attributed to the framework of NH₂-MOF that provides large caves for substrate enrichment and the stabilization of Cu sites by the -NH₂ group.

Encapsulating Cobalt into N-Doping Hollow Frameworks for Efficient Cascade Catalysis

The development of nonprecious catalysts for hydrogenation of organic molecules is of great importance in heterogeneous catalysis. Herein, we report a series of N-doped hollow carbon frameworks encompassing cobalt nanoparticles (denoted as Co@NHF-900) constructed as a new kind of reusable catalyst for this purpose by pyrolysis of ZIF-8@Co-dopamine under Ar atmospheres. Notably, the framework of ZIF-8 is essential for efficient catalyst by providing a carbon framework to support Co-dopamine. The experimental results reveal that the ZIF-8 renders a large hollow place within the catalysts, allowing the enrichment of the substrate and windows of the hollow structure and the ease of mass transfer of products during the reaction. All of the virtues made Co@NHF-900 a good candidate for hydrogenation of quinolines with high activity (TOF value of 119 h^-1, which is several times than that of akin catalysts) and chemoselectivity.