Teaming up main group metals with metallic iron to boost hydrogenation catalysis.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 35680902.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-022-30840-4 and PMC identifier 9184469.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Hydrogenation of unsaturated bonds is a key step in both the fine and petrochemical industries. Homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysts are historically based on noble group 9 and 10 metals. Increasing awareness of sustainability drives the replacement of costly, and often harmful, precious metals by abundant 3d-metals or even main group metals. Although not as efficient as noble transition metals, metallic barium was recently found to be a versatile hydrogenation catalyst. Here we show that addition of finely divided Fe<sup>0</sup>, which itself is a poor hydrogenation catalyst, boosts activities of Ba<sup>0</sup> by several orders of magnitude, enabling rapid hydrogenation of alkynes, imines, challenging multi-substituted alkenes and non-activated arenes. Metallic Fe<sup>0</sup> also boosts the activity of soluble early main group metal hydride catalysts, or precursors thereto. This synergy originates from cooperativity between a homogeneous, highly reactive, polar main group metal hydride complex and a heterogeneous Fe<sup>0</sup> surface that is responsible for substrate activation.