Green or sustainable chemistry is the design of chemical products and processes that reflect proactive environmental stewardship. While many green experiments have been developed for the organic chemistry laboratory, none yet exist for hydrogenation reactions. With the continually expanding interest in green chemistry in mind, we designed a hydrogenation experiment that uses a recyclable catalyst (SiliaCat Pd0) and a solvent derived from renewable resources (2-methyltetrahydrofuran). Students will not only learn how to run a reaction under a hydrogen atmosphere but also how to monitor the reaction progress by TLC under these conditions. Three common alkenes (methyl trans-cinnamate, dimethyl fumarate and trans-cinnamic acid) have thus far been reduced in less than one hour at room temperature with virtually quantitative yield. These reactions exemplify many of the principles of green chemistry and would be instructive additions to any organic chemistry laboratory course.

Green hydrogenation of unsaturated esters and acids

248th National Meeting (2014)

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