The hydrogenation of carbonyl groups is a cornerstone of the pharmaceutical industry. Current homogeneous catalysts for this transformation are efficient but are usually based on costly transition metals like iridium, rhodium and ruthenium. Their replacement by less expensive and more sustainable metals is an area of intense research. The ultimate goal of the project described in this presentation is the development of homogeneous hydrogenation catalysts based on iron, a much cheaper metal than those typically used in this chemistry. The key element of catalyst design involves a ligand-assisted heterolytic cleavage of dihydrogen. Efforts toward the synthesis of the required ligands and corresponding iron complexes will be presented.

Iron hydrogenation catalysts relying on ligand-assisted cleavage of dihydrogen

251st National Meeting (2016)

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