Heterogeneous Palladium-Catalyzed Transfer Hydrogenation of Epoxide and Structurally Diverse Unsaturated Bonds at Room Temperature

Abstract

Herein, we report a reusable UiO-67-Pd catalyst for additive-free transfer hydrogenation of epoxides at room temperature using ammonia borane as the hydrogen source. The protocol enables selective conversion of aromatic and aliphatic epoxides into the corresponding alcohols and can be readily applied to the reduction of other unsaturated functionalities, including α,β-unsaturated ketones, N-heterocycles, azoarenes, and nitroarenes. A series of mechanistic investigations were carried out to understand the catalytic process.