Currently, most ketone and imine reductions involve the use of stoichiometric reagents such as LiAlH4, NaBH4, or NaBH3CN.  Although these reagents work well, their use on industrial scales can generate waste disposal issues.  While metal-based catalysts have been shown to promote the reduction of ketones and imines, new guidelines of United States Pharmacopeia have dramatically lowered the allowable metal impurities such as Pd, Pt, Ru, Ir, Rh, and Os in pharmaceuticals.  This has prompted new interest in the development of base metal and metal-free hydrogenation processes.  This poster will discuss the thermodynamics of current metal based and metal-free hydrogen transfer catalysts and describe how this analysis can be used as guidelines for future catalyst development for imine and ketone reduction.

Hydrogen transfer catalyst design inspired by thermodynamics

247th National Meeting (2014)

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