Yoshihisa Watanabe, T. Ohta, Y. Tsuji
Sep 1, 1984
Citations
0
Influential Citations
69
Citations
Journal
Bulletin of the Chemical Society of Japan
Abstract
Various nitroarenes having chloro, methyl, or methoxy substituents were reduced to the corresponding aminoarenes in high yields using formic acid in the presence of a catalytic amount of RuCl2(PPh3)3. For example, 4-chloronitrobenzene was converted in 99% conversion with 98% selectivity at 125 °C for 5 h. 4-Nitroacetophenone was reduced chemoselectively to 1-(4-nitrophenyl)ethanol in 74% isolated yield under the same reaction conditions. Formic acid could also be employed as reductant for hydrogenation of heterocyclic compounds such as quinoline, indole, and quinoxaline in the presence of the ruthenium catalyst. 2-Methylquinoline was hydrogenated to 1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-2-methylquinoline in 93% conversion with 100% selectivity.